Twitter has finally deleted a post which outed one of the women who accused Alex Salmond of sexual assault.
The social media giant pulled down the appalling tweet after an outcry from MSPs and the woman affected.
The anonymity of the women who accused Salmond of sexual assault is guaranteed by a court order.
But after a Twitter user identified one of the women, the social media giant refused to remove the post.
Now they have finally taken it down after police launched a probe into the illegal post.
A friend of the woman said: “Twitter needs to seriously re-evaluate how it responds to complaints in order to better protect its users from harmful posts.
“Taking weeks to remove harmful posts even when they have been requested to do so by Police Scotland is simply not good enough and quite frankly dangerous.”
Former First Minister Salmond was acquitted of sexually assaulting nine women after a trial at Edinburgh High Court last year.
A court order was issued banning publication of the names of the accusers, or any information likely to disclose their identities.
A Twitter troll blatantly flouted the court instruction by revealing details of one of the women on a platform used by hundreds of millions of people.
However, Twitter initially said: We’re writing to let you know that after reviewing the available information, we didn’t find a violation of our rules in the content you reported.”
She was then asked to prove her identity was protected and directed to “self-help solutions”.
After being informed her case was “closed”, the social media giant has now performed a u-turn.
They wrote: “Our investigation found this account violated the Twitter Rules.”
The tweet breached the rules in relation to “posting private media” of an individual from a country with a “recognized right to privacy law”.
Violence, abuse and harassment, and breaches of privacy are types of conduct that are not allowed on Twitter.
Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said: “Twitter have taken the right step in removing this post. However, attempts to post and share the details of a complainant in the Salmond trial should never have happened in the first place.
“Identities of the accusers were protected by a court order, and social media platforms have a responsibility to safeguard privacy and make sure its users comply with the law.
“We expect assurances that all measures will be taken to ensure that such a breach of trust will not happen again.”
Tory MSP Annie Wells said: “It is astonishing that it has taken Twitter so long to take down this post, which will have severely distressed this woman.
“They should have acted immediately when this individual was identified but instead made her jump through hoops.
“Twitter must offer an urgent apology to this woman and guarantee that any future post identifying a complainant in this case will be taken down instantly.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We confirm that we have received a complaint, and that it is currently being investigated.”
Twitter has been contacted.
