Firebrand politician George Galloway has started legal action against Twitter for slapping a disclaimer on his social media account linking him to Russian state media.
The former MP lodged High Court papers in Dublin, according to the Irish Times.
His lawyer reportedly chose the jurisdiction because it is where data controls for EU and UK Twitter accounts are said to be held.
Mr Galloway was furious when the label appeared on his Twitter in April.
“I am not ‘Russia state affiliated media’,” he complained.
“I work for NO #Russian media. I have 400,000 followers. I’m the leader of a British political party and spent nearly 30 years in the British parliament.
“If you do not remove this designation I will take legal action.”
RT and Sputnik
On May 25, he retweeted reports of the High Court action launched in the Irish capital.
Mr Galloway has been a contributor for RT, formerly known as Russia Today, which recently had its licence revoked in the UK by regulator Ofcom.
He presented The Mother of All Talk Shows on the Russian-owned Radio Sputnik channel since 2019.
He also presented ‘Sputnik: Orbiting the world with George Galloway’ each week with his wife Gayatri on the Kremlin-linked RT.
On Wednesday, his social media feed contained multiple retweets of a Russian embassy account.
In one Tweet about the High Court action, he tagged in Elon Musk, who is taking over the social media platform.
On a recent YouTube programme, Mr Galloway said he no longer presents “anything” on RT and Sputnik.
He has since called the badging as a “daily stab to the heart of who and what I am”.