Malaysian man ordered to tweet apology

A Malaysian social activist is to apologise 100 times on Twitter as part of a highly unusual settlement with a magazine publisher in a defamation case.

In January, Fahmi Fadzil claimed on the microblogging website that his pregnant friend had been unfairly treated by her employer, a magazine run by Blu Inc Media.

Fadzil issued an apology to Blu Inc on Twitter almost immediately after making the allegation, but the company's lawyers sent him a letter demanding unspecified financial damages for defamation and another apology in the major newspapers.

His lawyer Syahredzan Johan revealed today that Fadzil had agreed to settle the case by apologising 100 times over three days on his @Fahmi_Fadzil Twitter account, which has 4,200 followers.

In a series of tweets, posted at 30-minute intervals, Fadzil wrote: "I've DEFAMED Blu Inc Media and Female Magazine. My tweets on their HR [human resource] policies are untrue. I retract those words and hereby apologise."

The case represents the first time that a community service sentence has been imposed on Twitter in Malaysia, where users are being warned to be more cautious about what they write on social networks and blogs.

Fadzil told his followers on Twitter that he could not elaborate on the settlement any further.

Yesterday, a new Twitter account attracted 5,000 followers in the UK after publishing alleged details of celebrities whom it claims have obtained super-injunctions.