British player in court bid for Twitter details

Published May. 20, 2011 6:14 p.m. ET

foxsports

Lawyers say a British footballer has begun legal action to demand that online messaging service Twitter discloses the account details of users who broke an anonymity order.

The player, who is not identified in court documents, obtained a judge-issued order banning publication of his identity in connection with an alleged affair with a reality television contestant.

In a statement, Schillings law firm said ''an application has been made to obtain limited information concerning the unlawful use of Twitter by a small number of individuals.''

Earlier this month a Twitter account posted six tweets claiming to expose celebrities who had obtained court-issued gag orders.

Twitter spokesman Matt Graves said the company was unable to comment.