After numerous athletes came under fire for their controversial social media presence, the London Olympics may have set a precedent for what other authorities can hold against you and your posts.

On Friday, the microblogging site Twitter (News - Alert) said it would turn over about three months' worth of tweets by an Occupy Wall Street protestor to a judge prosecuting his case.

The case will likely be a closely-watched fight over how much access law enforcement agencies should have to material posted on social networks, the Associated Press reported.

It’s important to note that Twitter is doing it by choice: Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr., overseeing the case, threatened Twitter with high fines if the company ignored the order to turn over the records in the case of Malcolm Harris, the protestor.

The judge has promised, however, to keep the Tweets sealed until a hearing appealing his ruling to turn over the Tweets is held on Friday of this week. 


Image via Shutterstock

The lawyer for Twitter, Terryl Brown, said the options facing his client were "unfair" and "unjust," though he did ultimately turn over the information to the judge.

Harris’ attorney said he hoped Twitter would have fought harder and longer against the ruling.

"We are disappointed that Twitter is essentially giving up the fight," said the attorney, Martin Stolar.

Harris has been charged with ignoring police orders. The judge believes his Tweets may yield evidence as to whether he heard but willingly disobeyed the orders.
 

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