Twitter founder refuses to gag the tweeters

The founder of Twitter has reportedly refused to remove the tweets at the centre of a gagging order storm.

Former artist Biz Stone, 37, believes free speech is "essential" to the site.

The account claiming to name celebrities who have obtained super-injunctions was still live today, with the number of followers rising to 79,000.

The case is dominating discussion on the site in the UK.

Twitter did not say whether it had received requests to remove tweets which have broken super-injunctions from lawyers representing the parties named. The firm tweeted: "We don't comment on individual accounts."

It resisted a legal attempt in the US this year to clamp down on accounts related to WikiLeaks, the website that leaked confidential American diplomatic cables.

Mr Stone said: "Freedom of expression is essential. We don't always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content."