The anonymous Twitter user behind a parody of Northcliffe Media chief executive Steve Auckland has been accused of hacking into a company email account.
As reported earlier this month, the regional publisher is taking legal action in a bid to unmask the identity of the ‘obsessive’ tweeter known as @UnSteveDorkland.
Legal documents filed in the US say the mystery account holder had hacked into a company email account, posted information gained from surveillance of Northcliffe employees, and made staff “fear for their safety.”
The account holder has told the BBC and other media outlets that he denies “all accusations of illegal conduct set out in this document”.
Twitter is understood to have told the account holder it will comply with Northcliffe’s request and reveal the user’s details on Wednesday, 1 August.
However according to the BBC, the account holder is to challenge the decision with the help of a lawyer who is offering his services free of charge.
A court document filed at California Northern District Court in San Francisco said that some of the information he posted on Twitter had not previously been known publicly.
“On information and belief, the only way that such information could be obtained was by hacking into an email account at the plaintiff’s business,” it stated.
It also accused the account holder of posting information “apparently obtained from surveillance of plaintiff’s employees”, as well as engaging in other fraudulent and defamatory activity.
Northcliffe is making no further comment on the matter pending the outcome of the legal process.
Steve Auckland previously said in a statement: “I can confirm we have taken action to ask Twitter for help in identifying the individual in order to protect our staff from harassment.
“Some of the recent anonymous activity on Twitter has been both obsessive and offensive. I will not tolerate any form of harassment of Northcliffe Media’s employees, especially from anonymous sources.”
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I’d say some of the staff fearing for their safety are more possibly worried about the Northcliffe axeman, not a tweeter.
It’s possibly been uncomfortable reading for the Northcliffe hierarchy, who have managed to hurt the business so badly, but so has their handiwork for anyone who cares about journalism, newspapers and Northcliffe.
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I have my doubts about the suggestion of hacking into accounts. I suspect he has many contacts still working for Northcliffe who are more than happy to provide inside information
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This has much more to do with embarrassment than anything else. When Steve Auckland worked in Leeds he seemed to have a good sense of humour if his visits to the newsroom were anything to go by. I’ve read the offending tweets and they seemed pretty harmless to me. I’d just suggest he lightens up, asks the tweeter to put a sock in it, and gets on with the job of running newspapers.
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Struggling a bit with the reasoning here.
We had a Tweeter who had about 50 followers and virtually no attention being paid to him/her.
Northcliffe hierarchy say it is damaging sensibilities, reputations etc.
So they make an almighty fuss and now, as I write, he’s got 1,983 followers. So that’s 40x more people who now know about it all, not to mention all the discussion across the media, not just in the UK but worldwide.
So all those damaged sensibilities (and I don’t for one minute make light if there are any untruths) have now got a worldwide audience with a great big spotlight on it all.
I think that, having worked in the regional press, there will be little sympathy since the majority of those apparently offended here would stop at nothing to ruin others’ reputations for a few grubby sales (unproven criminal allegations etc).
As we have seen for the past five years of so, the regional press loves to give it out but when they become the story they are remarkably thin-skinned.
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