CorpComms Magazine

The Brazilian government has filed a lawsuit against social networking site Twitter, insisting that it removes all accounts that post warnings about the locations of police speed traps and road blocks across the country.

The lawsuit orders Twitter to pay the equivalent of about £180,000 for every day that it does not meet the terms of the request.

The lawsuit filed by Luís Inácio Lucena Adams, Brazil's attorney general, to a federal court in Goias, states that Twitter accounts that offer road users information violate traffic and criminal laws.

The lawsuit came in response to the government's worries that the messages damage its anti drink-driving efforts.

In January, Twitter's blog said that it 'will withhold specific content only when required to do so in response to what we believe to be a valid and applicable legal request'.

One of the most popular accounts @RadarBlitzGO, which had almost 12,000 followers, has stopped posting updates since the lawsuit was filed.

One of the comments posted on the BBC News site by Jeff Martin, said: 'This does seem rather odd, considering there are certain Sat Navs that have speed camera warnings in-built. Are they legal? I guess so...'

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