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19 March 2024

Sony threatens to sue Twitter after users post hacked emails

an exterior view of the Sony Pictures Plaza building in Culver City, Calif. As the dust clears in the Sony hacking attack that has been delivering more dramatic plotlines than any fictional movie, Sony and others involved are trying to move forward and tackle the next steps in minimizing the mess. (AP)

Published
By AFP

Sony Pictures Entertainment is threatening Twitter with legal action and is calling on the social media platform to prevent its users from posting emails exposed during the recent hack of the studio.

In a letter sent to Twitter's general counsel by Sony Pictures' attorney David Boies, the company threatens that if "stolen information continues to be disseminated by Twitter in any manner," Sony will "hold Twitter responsible for any damage or loss arising from such use or dissemination by Twitter."

One letter cited musician Val Broeksmit, in particular, whose Twitter feed includes screenshots of emails by Sony execs including Michael Lynton, Amy Pascal, Clint Culpepper, Hannah Minghella, Doug Belgrad and Dwight Caines, among others.

Sony also demanded Twitter "comply with all future requests with regard to any other account holder seeking to disseminate the Stolen Information via Twitter. In addition, we ask that you provide the Account Holder with a copy of this letter, and request that the Account Holder cease publication of the Stolen Information on Twitter."

"SPE does not consent to Twitter's or any Twitter account holder's possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading, or making any use of the Stolen Information, and to request your cooperation in suspending the Account Holder's Twitter account and the account of any other user seeking to disseminate the Stolen Information via Twitter," according to the email.

In response, Twitter sent Broeksmit a message letting him know that the platform "cannot provide legal advice" and that he "may wish to contact your own attorney about this matter."

While Twitter does not let its users post another person's private information via text or images, it does not prevent users to link to that kind of information through posts.

Earlier this month, Sony's attorneys demanded press destroy any information it may have obtained after information and emails were leaked online and emailed to journalists.

The letter, sent from Boies to Twitter's general counsel, Vijaya Gadde, and subsequent emails to Broeksmit, were first reported by Motherboard.

Broeksmit has told Vice that "I'm not with a newspaper and I think I can get away with it. It's important -- the reason is it's so new and different from anything we've seen before."

The musician started posting images of Sony emails after hackers, calling themselves the "Guardians of Peace," posted data and films stolen from SPE online, including salaries of top execs and personal info for thousands of current and former employees, forcing the studio to ultimately pull the Christmas Day release of the comedy "The Interview," starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, in which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is assassinated.