Politician pays for tweet
2011-03-13 11:24
London - A British politician has agreed to pay damages for an inaccurate comment he made about a rival on his Twitter account.
It appeared to be the first defamation case in Britain involving a comment made on Twitter.
To settle the case, Colin Elsbury has agreed to pay £3 000 in damages and to publish an apology on Twitter to his rival Eddie Talbot, according to a law firm that represented Talbot. Elsbury also will pay Talbot's legal fees.
Elsbury claimed in a June 2009 tweet that Talbot had been removed from a polling station by police during a local election in Wales.
Talbot's lawyer told a High Court in Wales that the tweet was untrue and defamatory, and left his client open to ridicule.
Talbot was seeking election to the local council, but Elsbury won.
- AP
