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Twitter sued by Brazil over drink-driving trap alerts
The RadarBlitzGO account suspended its alert service following the Brazilian's government's action
The Brazilian government has filed a lawsuit against Twitter, demanding that the firm remove accounts in the country that warn citizens of police speed traps and roadblocks.
The authorities are concerned the service is undermining its efforts to tackle drink-driving in the country.
The lawsuit also orders Twitter to pay 500,000 reals ($290,000; £183,000) for each day that it does not comply with the request.
Twitter is not commenting on the case.
The lawsuit comes after Twitter announced in January that it could block messages that contravened local laws if requested by governments.
It said it would publish all censorship requests it received to the website Chilling Effects, but nothing relating to the case has been submitted yet.
SuspensionThe lawsuit was filed by the Attorney General of the Union (AGU), Luis Inacio Lucena Adams, to a federal court in the state of Goias. It claims accounts that provide information to road users violate both traffic and criminal laws.
Chief Prosecutor Celmo Ricardo Teixeira da Silva said: "The prosecution responded to a necessity to ensure the effectiveness of action on surveillance of the federal highway police."
There are several popular accounts that warn road users of incidents in Brazil, with one, @LeiSecaRJ, followed by more than 285,000 users.
Another, @RadarBlitzGO, which has almost 12,000 followers, has already ended its service in light of the filing.
"We are suspending the updates until justice has ruled," it said.
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Comment number 75.
Jeff Martin7th February 2012 - 23:51
This does seem rather odd, considering there are certain Sat Navs that have speed camera warnings in-built. Are they legal? I guess so...
Mind you, I do remember hearing about someone who was fined for warning people abut a mobile speed trap by flashing his headlights at oncoming traffic.
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Comment number 74.
Mike from Brum7th February 2012 - 23:48
LOL. Lived in Brasil for 8 months. Witnessed several people pulled over by police for nothing. Standard practice was to give equivalent of USD 20. Sometimes police and victim didn't even speak. Police knock on window, give money, police walk away. This is hollow posturing typical of beaurocrats in Brasil.
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Comment number 73.
Il Pirata7th February 2012 - 23:43
55.Peakeeo
"Meanwhile Abu Qatada is granted bail but cannot be deported from the UK."
Indeed - Why are we not given the opportunity to discuss meaningful topics? Too contentious? Not what our lords and masters want us discussing? Better stick to brazilian twitter drinking and driving LOL
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Comment number 72.
Kelly7th February 2012 - 23:11
Perhaps they should call on the USA to intervene.
Straight in with the heavy task force and shut twitter down.
[This is what happened to Megaupload.com of course].
Close all iClouds too, where offending data COULD help speedsters to evade the hot-spots.
A different policy of heavy fines for using twitter while travelling may be easier to enforce irrespective of country.
Do not drive & phone !
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Comment number 71.
indiansummer427th February 2012 - 23:00
69. Nasqueron
" By helping motorists avoid patrols it allows dangerous drivers to avoid detection and potentially kill."
Then the police need to get smarter and change their strategies, rather than attacking free speech. This is fundamentally different to eg teaching someone to make a bomb in the kitchen. Road information is available to anybody driving who can see. Unenforceable and ridiculous.
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Comments 5 of 75