General

@vikileaks30 tweets coming from House of Commons

Reporters at the Ottawa Citizen have traced the @vikileaks30 Twitter account back to a House of Commons computer. The Twitter feed went viral earlier this week as it spread lurid details of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’s private life gleaned from court records from his divorce proceedings. The account is intended as a protest against the erosion of online privacy that would happen if the government approved the “Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.” (AKA Bill C-30).

The feed now boasts over 9,000 followers. Liberal MP Justin Trudeau was one of the first adopters, and has been an avid “re-tweeter” of the posts.

The Citizen tricked the poster into revealing his or her IP address, which is assigned to a computer inside the House of Commons. The report notes the same address has been used to “update Wikipedia articles often giving them what appears to be a pro-NDP bias.” There is no indication that the person—or persons—behind the Vikileaks30 account has been identified. Only a formal complaint by the minister or anyone else in the House would trigger an investigation into the matter.

In part because of the backlash caused by the Twitter feed, the government has indicated it will re-consider some aspects of Bill C-30.

UPDATE: According to the CBC, Toews will send a letter to House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer requesting an investigation into the Twitter feed.

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