British MP Names Celebrity in Privacy Row

May 23, 2011 from Al Jazeera English

After weeks of online speculation over which British celebrities had taken out so-called "super injunctions" to prevent the media from reporting or even alluding to certain stories about them, John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP in the UK, has named footballer Ryan Giggs as the soccer player alleged to have had an affair with Imogen Thomas, a British reality TV star. Addressing parliament on Monday, Hemming said: "With about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs on Twitter, it is impractical to imprison them all." Jonah Hull reports from London.

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Ryan Giggs

Ryan Joseph Giggs, OBE is a Welsh footballer who plays for Manchester United. Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season. He established himself as a left winger during the 1990s, and continued ... Explore this topic

Injunction

An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing specific acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions. In some cases, ... Explore this topic

Super injunction

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Twitter

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) via SMS, instant messaging, email, to the Twitter website, or an application such as Twitterrific. Twitter was founded in March 2006... Explore this topic

John Hemming (politician)

John Alexander Melvin Hemming is a British politician, the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley and Group Chair of the Liberal Democrats on the city council of Birmingham, England. Hemming was until 1 May 2008 an elected councillor for the South Yardley Ward. In 2005, h... Explore this topic

Privacy law

Privacy law refers to the laws which deal with the regulation of personal information about individuals which can be collected by governments and other public as well as private organizations and its storage and use. Privacy laws are considered in the context of an individual'... Explore this topic

Member of parliament

A Member of Parliament is the representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this category includes specifically members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different ... Explore this topic

London

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, and the largest city, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history g... Explore this topic

Liberal Democrats (UK)

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom, supporting constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, environmentalism, human rights laws, banking reform and civil liberties. The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the Libe... Explore this topic

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom and Britain, is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of... Explore this topic

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Ryan Giggs

Injunction

Super injunction