French Gay Rights Group Doesn't Like Homophobic Hashtag, Plans To Sue Twitter
A French gay rights group is planning to sue Twitter after a homophobic hashtag was the most trending topic over the weekend in France.
The group, called IDAHO (the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia), wants Twitter to give French authorities information on the users who used the hashtag. The hope is that those who used the hashtag will be prosecuted for violating France's hate speech laws.
From UPI:
PARIS, Aug. 12 (UPI)—A French gay rights groups said it will sue Twitter after the hashtag "gays must die" became the nation's most popular "trending" topic over the weekend.
A pro-gay French group dubbed the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, or IDAHO, said Monday its members plan to sue Twitter to turn over the information on users who used the hashtag and turn the information over to French authorities to be investigated for allegedly violating France's hate speech laws, TheLocal.fr said.
"We support free expression, and we understand that there are some people who simply don't like gay people, but this is a call for the extermination of the gay community," said Alexander Marcel, a member of IDAHO. "Twitter hasn't deleted a single homophobic tweet, nor removed a single homophobic hashtag from its list of most popular trending terms."
As is noted over at The Daily Dot, this is not the first time that Twitter will have to deal with French hate speech legislation. Last year, a French court ordered the social media site to identify users who tweeted anti-semitic remarks.
Given that the homophobic hashtag was trending it is unlikely that every user who included the hashtag in a tweet is going to be investigated if IDAHO is successful in suing Twitter.