Twitter admits it has blocked a German account

MICRO MESSAGING SOCIAL NETWORK Twitter has confirmed that it is blocking a member account because it is illegal.

The account, @hannoverticker is deemed illegal in Germany and has been closed following a request made by law enforcement in September.

The request has been posted to the Chillingeffects website, the place where in January Twitter said it would reveal when and where it was withholding content.

"The Ministry of the Interior of the State of Lower-Saxony in Germany has banned the organisation 'Besseres Hannover'. It is disbanded, its assets are seized and all its accounts in social networks have to be closed immediately. The Public Prosecutor (State Attorney's Office) has launched an investigation on suspicion of forming a criminal association," said the letter which was signed by the Hannover Police and addressed to Twitter.

"I ask you to close this account immediately and not to open any substitute accounts for the organisation 'Besseres Hannover'."

The block has been confirmed by Alex Macgillivray, general counsel at Twitter in a tweeted message.

"We announced the ability to withhold content back in Jan. We're using it now for the first time re: a group deemed illegal in Germany," he said. "Never want to withhold content; good to have tools to do it narrowly & transparently."

This is the first time that Twitter has blocked an account since it announced the ability to do so in January. µ