World affairs

Twitter, isn’t it great? You can pretty much find out anything you want on Twitter, providing you know where to look. While this is super handy, it seems that the Brazilian government fails to see the bright side as it has just filed a lawsuit against the website.

Yes, the Brazilian government has filed a lawsuit against Twitter, demanding that the social networking website shuts down accounts that are warning the public about police speed traps and roadblocks.

The BBC reports that authorities are worried that the service is undermining its efforts to tackle drink-driving problems in the country.

The lawsuit is ordering Twitter to pay €280,000 for each day that it does not comply with the request to remove the accounts.

However the traffic alert Twitter accounts are incredibly popular with citizens who check them daily. One account boasts more than 285,000 people.

The legal action against the website was filed by the Attorney General of the Union, Luis Inacio Lucena Adams, to a federal court in the state of Goias. The lawsuit states that the Twitter accounts in question provide information to road users violate both traffic and criminal laws. Therefore it is essential that they are shut down immediately.

“The prosecution responded to a necessity to ensure the effectiveness of action on surveillance of the federal highway police,” said Chief Prosecutor Celmo Ricardo Teixeira da Silva.

One of the Twitter accounts that is being targeted by the lawsuit has already shut down its service in light of the filing.

“We are suspending the updates until justice has ruled,” the account tweeted to its 12,000 followers.

Just think of all the money the Brazilian government is going to make from the speeding fines and other traffic misdemeanours that will crop up now that the public has no one to warn them about speed cameras and car tax checks...