Twitter agrees to block anti-Semitic tweets in French

Twitter has agreed to remove anti-Semitic messages in French after threats of legal action over responses to the hashtag #unbonjuif (#agoodjew). The move follows Thursday’s blocking of the account of a banned German neo-Nazi group.

DR

France’s Union of Jewish Students (UEJF) on Thursday threatened legal action after anti-Semites responded to the #unbonjuif hashtag in droves.

On Friday UEJF lawyer, Stéphane Lilti, announced a “great victory” , saying that the US-based form has agreed to apply French law and remove offensive messages that are brought to its attention.

The group would provide a list of tweets it wanted removed before the end of the day, he said.

But it may still sue Twitter to force it to surrender the details of offending tweeters.

In its first-ever application of a policy known as “country-withheld content”, Twitter on Thursday blocked the account of neo-Nazi group Besseres Hannover (Better Hanover) on the request of German police.