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| British Police Investigate Twitter Account | British Police Investigate Twitter Account |
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| A day after Twitter blocked users in Germany from access to the account of an outlawed neo-Nazi group, the police in Britain plunged on Friday into a separate inquiry relating to remarks purportedly made on Twitter by a right-wing political leader about a legal case concerning discrimination against a gay couple refused accommodation by the owners of a lodging house. | A day after Twitter blocked users in Germany from access to the account of an outlawed neo-Nazi group, the police in Britain plunged on Friday into a separate inquiry relating to remarks purportedly made on Twitter by a right-wing political leader about a legal case concerning discrimination against a gay couple refused accommodation by the owners of a lodging house. |
| British news reports said the Twitter account at the center of the investigation — @nickgriffinmep — had been suspended after it was used to publish the couple’s address and call for a demonstration there. It later appeared to have been reactivated without the couple’s address, but it was not immediately clear who had ordered the editing. | British news reports said the Twitter account at the center of the investigation — @nickgriffinmep — had been suspended after it was used to publish the couple’s address and call for a demonstration there. It later appeared to have been reactivated without the couple’s address, but it was not immediately clear who had ordered the editing. |
| The account is listed on Twitter as “the official Twitter page of British National Party Chairman and Member of the European Parliament for the North West region, Nick Griffin.” | The account is listed on Twitter as “the official Twitter page of British National Party Chairman and Member of the European Parliament for the North West region, Nick Griffin.” |
| The party is a small and xenophobic group that has made some electoral gains in recent years, culminating in Mr. Griffin’s election to the European Parliament in 2009. The group campaigned on a platform opposed to what Mr. Griffin calls the “creeping Islamification” of Britain and supporting voluntary repatriation of immigrants and a British exit from the European Union and NATO. | The party is a small and xenophobic group that has made some electoral gains in recent years, culminating in Mr. Griffin’s election to the European Parliament in 2009. The group campaigned on a platform opposed to what Mr. Griffin calls the “creeping Islamification” of Britain and supporting voluntary repatriation of immigrants and a British exit from the European Union and NATO. |
| The legal case that stirred the dispute related to Michael Black and John Morgan, who won damages of 1,800 pounds (roughly $2,300) each on Thursday after complaining that the owner of a bed-and-breakfast refused to give them a room with a double bed when they arrived in March 2010. They had reserved a double room by e-mail and paid a deposit. | |
| The owner, Susanne Wilkinson, said her Christian beliefs prevented her from providing double beds to unmarried couples. | The owner, Susanne Wilkinson, said her Christian beliefs prevented her from providing double beds to unmarried couples. |
| But the court concluded that, by refusing a double bed for Mr. Black and Mr. Morgan, Ms. Wilkinson “treated them less favorably than she would treat unmarried heterosexual couples in the same circumstances.” | But the court concluded that, by refusing a double bed for Mr. Black and Mr. Morgan, Ms. Wilkinson “treated them less favorably than she would treat unmarried heterosexual couples in the same circumstances.” |
| The apparently edited messages posted on the @nickgriffinmep Twitter account said “bit of drama by way of reminding you that an English couple’s home is their castle. Say No to heterophobia!” and “. .for rights of all homeowners, gays included, to rent or not rent rooms to whomsoever they wish.” | The apparently edited messages posted on the @nickgriffinmep Twitter account said “bit of drama by way of reminding you that an English couple’s home is their castle. Say No to heterophobia!” and “. .for rights of all homeowners, gays included, to rent or not rent rooms to whomsoever they wish.” |
| Initially, the messages, posted on Thursday, had threatened to send a “British justice team” to the couple’s address. | Initially, the messages, posted on Thursday, had threatened to send a “British justice team” to the couple’s address. |
| A spokeswoman for the police in Cambridgeshire said: “We have received a number of calls in relation to the tweets and are looking into the complaints we have received.” | A spokeswoman for the police in Cambridgeshire said: “We have received a number of calls in relation to the tweets and are looking into the complaints we have received.” |
| “Officers will also visit the men mentioned in the tweets as part of our inquiries” she said, adding that one of the messages on Twitter had revealed their home address. The police were reported later to be patrolling near the couple’s home. | |
| Mr. Griffin reacted angrily to the affair saying in a BBC interview that discrimination was “a fundamental human right.” | Mr. Griffin reacted angrily to the affair saying in a BBC interview that discrimination was “a fundamental human right.” |
| “Mr. Black and Mr. Morgan have the right to decide who enters their home and who doesn’t, as do Christians, and that’s what they are taking away,” he said. In Germany, Twitter blocked access to the neo-Nazi Twitter account for users in Germany under a policy known as “country-withheld content,” announced in January, in which it will block an account at the request of a government. | “Mr. Black and Mr. Morgan have the right to decide who enters their home and who doesn’t, as do Christians, and that’s what they are taking away,” he said. In Germany, Twitter blocked access to the neo-Nazi Twitter account for users in Germany under a policy known as “country-withheld content,” announced in January, in which it will block an account at the request of a government. |
| The company said the goal was to balance freedom of expression with compliance with local laws. “Never want to withhold content; good to have tools to do it narrowly & transparently,” Alexander Macgillivray, the company’s chief lawyer, wrote on Twitter. | The company said the goal was to balance freedom of expression with compliance with local laws. “Never want to withhold content; good to have tools to do it narrowly & transparently,” Alexander Macgillivray, the company’s chief lawyer, wrote on Twitter. |
| A German spokesman for the company confirmed in an e-mail that it was the first time the policy had been used, although Twitter does not as a matter of policy announce government requests to block an account. | A German spokesman for the company confirmed in an e-mail that it was the first time the policy had been used, although Twitter does not as a matter of policy announce government requests to block an account. |
| The authorities in Lower Saxony banned the neo-Nazi group, Besseres Hannover, or Better Hanover, last month. | The authorities in Lower Saxony banned the neo-Nazi group, Besseres Hannover, or Better Hanover, last month. |