Sony Threatens To Sue Twitter Over Tweets Containing Leaked Emails

Ariel Zambelich/WIRED

Sony is now in damage control mode.

On Monday, Vice’s Motherboard reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment has threatened Twitter with legal action unless the social network suspends users who are tweeting the content of emails exposed by the recent hack of the entertainment giant. According to Motherboard, Twitter received a letter from Sony lawyer David Boies stating that if the “stolen information continues to be disseminated by Twitter in any manner,” Sony will hold it responsible for any damage or loss ensuing from Twitter’s dissemination of the material.

In particular, Sony complained about Val Broeksmit, a musician who has been tweeting screenshots of hacked Sony emails from his account, @BikiniRobotArmy. In its letter, Sony asked that Twitter share the legal threat with Broeksmit, and demanded that Broeksmit cease tweeting about the leaks. Twitter hasn’t publicly responded to Sony’s letter, but Broeksmit’s tweets are still live on the site. Twitter’s policies state that posting another person’s private information is prohibited, but it does not prohibit posting links to that information.

For Twitter, Sony’s demands bring up an oft-debated issue: How should the social network police content on its site?

Twitter has taken stances before, saying it would suspend accounts sharing the graphic imagery from the video showing American photojournalist James Foley being beheaded by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The company has also said it now deletes images of the deceased upon request from family members, following a nasty episode in which Robin Williams’ daughter was flooded with abusive messages about her father on the social network after he passed away. So the company does police content in some situations. But clearly, it doesn’t want to go too far.

For so long, the social network has succeeded because it has allowed its users the freedom of discourse. But with 500 million tweets going out everyday, Twitter cannot ignore how big it has gotten—it needs strong and clear-minded policies. It also needs to decide where it stands on being a major outlet for free-flowing information versus stifling certain information from going around.

Separately, Sony has threatened journalists reporting on its leak with the much the same legal action. The New York Times, Hollywood Reporter and Gawker, among others, received letters similar to Twitter’s, demanding that the publications destroy the leaked data or face legal action.