UK Court OKs Service by Twitter a Year After Australian Court Allows Service by Facebook

A court in the U.K. allowed an injunction be served on an anonymous blogger via Twitter last Thursday. Courts usually lag technology, so this represents a pretty significant step by the legal system.

The injunction aims to stop an online impersonator of attorney Donal Blaney, a well-known right-wing blogger. Blaney wanted to serve the injunction by Twitter because he believed it would be the quickest way to get the site taken down.

The judge who allowed the "service by Twitter" was familiar with the site, as well as a ruling last year in Australia that approved service of a default judgment by Facebook.

As a solicitor told the BBC News, the rules allow electronic service -- if some documents may be sent by email, it seems natural they should be able to be served over social networks, too.

The ABA Journal reported on this here.

To read about last year's Australian court ruling that approved service via Facebook, click here. Service had previously been OK'ed by email and text message, but service by Facebook was reportedly the first service delivered by a social networking system.