Twitter Continues Legal Fight in Occupy Wall Street Protester Trial

Twitter announced that it will appeal a recent ruling in an ongoing legal battle between the state of New York and a Twitter user, in which a judge ordered Twitter to hand over information on one of its users.

The appeal comes shortly after New York County Criminal Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr. ruled that Twitter must hand over a series of tweets sent by Malcolm Harris, a senior editor at online publication the New Inquiry and a protester in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Harris was one of more than 700 people arrested in conjunction with a massive OWS protest that blocked the Brooklyn Bridge last October. The case holds larger implications for Twitter in terms of potential future litigation. The court originally found that Harris “lacked the legal standing” to challenge the request for Twitter information on his own behalf. But if Twitter users on the whole can’t defend themselves against subpoenas for information, that responsibility is on Twitter.