The social networking site Twitter has suspended the account of a journalist for the Independent newspaper because of criticism at the US broadcaster NBC over their Olympics coverage.
The social networking site Twitter has suspended the account of a journalist for the Independent newspaper because of criticism at the US broadcaster NBC over their Olympics coverage.
Guy Adams, the Independent’s correspondent in the American city of Los Angeles, had his account suspended after Adams tweeted the corporate address of the head of NBC’s Olympics division, Gary Zenkel.
Archie Bland, the Independent’s Deputy Editor, confirmed that the account had been suspended, tweeting that the suspension had been heavy handed. There is speculation that NBC filed a complaint with Twitter because of the criticism.
Spokespersons for Twitter did not respond to requests seeking comment. Phone calls to NBC seeking comment were not returned. According to a report from The Independent, in a statement from NBC Sports, NBC confirmed the complaint. “We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives,” the statement read.
Adams had written extensively for The Independent on the criticism NBC had been facing in the US over its coverage, especially events being tape delayed. “On Friday afternoon, like every resident of America, I was not watching the Olympic opening ceremony,” Adams wrote in The Independent, due to run in the July 31 paper. “Instead, I was sat at home, quietly fuming at the fact that NBC, the US network which purchased rights to the entire Games, had come to the conclusion that it would be a good idea delay broadcast of this global news event until the evening prime-time, roughly nine hours after it had finished.”
Adams wrote that he then started tweeting about NBC’s decision. “This being the era of Twitter, I did not have to suffer in silence,” Adams wrote, and began to tweet. “The man responsible for NBC pretending the Olympics haven’t started yet is Gary Zenkel,” Adams tweeted. “Tell him what you think!”
The tweet was included in the hashtag #NBCfail, which has been trending after users criticised the coverage. Adams added that after he filed a piece for The Independent on the coverage after the opening ceremony, his account had been suspended. An automated e-mail, Adams wrote, indicated he was suspended because of the tweeting of the address. Adams added that he did not wish Zenkel any harm, nor was it his intention of doing so.
In an e-mail to Twitter’s head of European PR Rachel Bremer, publishing it in the Independent, Adams said the address was public. “I’m of course happy to abide by Twitter’s rules, now and forever,” Adams said. “But I don’t see how I broke them in this case: I didn’t publish a private email address. Just a corporate one, which is widely available to anyone with access to Google, and is identical [in form] to one that all of the tens of thousands of NBC Universal employees share.”
Adams then expressed concern of NBC’s actions. “[It’s] quite worrying that NBC, whose parent company are an Olympic sponsor, are apparently trying (and, in this case, succeeding) in shutting down the Twitter accounts of journalists who are critical of their Olympic coverage,” Adams said.
