Activist Arrested for Using Twitter During G-20 Protest
by DemocracyNow!
 A New York activist has been arrested for using the social networking site Twitter to spread information about police actions during the recent G-20 protests in Pittsburgh.
Elliot Madison was arrested on September 24 in Pittsburgh. On Thursday, FBI agents raided his home in Queens and spent sixteen hours searching it.
While protesters have used text messages and Twitter to communicate before, Madison is believed to be one of the first activists to be charged criminally for sending information electronically to protesters about the police.
A criminal complaint in Pennsylvania accused Madison of “directing others, specifically protesters of the G-20 summit, in order to avoid apprehension after a lawful order to disperse.” His attorney Martin Stolar said, “He and a friend were part of a communications network among people protesting the G-20. There’s absolutely nothing that he’s done that should subject him to any criminal liability.”
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