Footballer Twitter storm set to change privacy landscape

The internet is abuzz with news that an unnamed footballer, the mysterious 'CTB', is trying to sue Twitter after details of his super-injunction were leaked on the site by thousands of users.

Ever since the term 'super-injunction' hit the headlines when Andrew Marr broke his own injunction by talking to the Daily Mail, the race has been on to find out who is behind the other injunctions.

Of course, no-one can then report these details in the press, lest they fancy spending a lengthy stretch in the Gulags, but stopping the details being published and republished in a flood of digital waves is another story altogether.

Ever since the rise of the internet, tools have existed to let the public broadcast their thoughts to anyone who will listen. From Geocities to Twitter's 140 characters, by way of Blogger and Wordpress, publishing is now quick, easy and free.

This is a nightmare for the legal world. The press is well aware of contempt of court, but stopping hundreds of thousands of people repeating information, often behind anonymous profiles, is like Canute trying to turn back the tide.

The most notable super-injunction is by a footballer known as 'CTB'. It may have stopped the press, but was not enough to prevent the online hordes from repeating the details they'd heard to the wider internet.

In another amazing twist, the footballer is now suing Twitter in an effort to force the site to disclose the details of those who broke the law by publishing the information, in an effort to stamp out the gossip.

This was not a wise move, as Twitter users struck back at once by increasing their efforts at publishing his name in response to the decision.

Antonio Suarez-Martinez, a litigation partner at law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, told V3.co.uk that the decision by CTB to sue Twitter is unlikely to have the desired effect.

"Is the footballer going to ask Twitter to disclose the identity of every individual who has publicly posted his name, and then ask the Attorney General to issue contempt proceedings against each and every one of them?" he asked.

"This route has, unfortunately for the unnamed footballer, only served to add fuel to the flames as thousands of Twitter users are naming the individual in a show of defiance."