Twitter is prepared to turn over tweets in the criminal case against Occupy Wall Street protester Malcolm Harris, The Post has learned.
A Manhattan judge overseeing the case has given Twitter until tomorrow to produce Harris’s tweets or face heavy fines for being held in contempt of court.
“They don’t want to go in contempt,” a source with knowledge of Twitter’s plans said. “But they do want to fight.”
It’s been 75 days since Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr. ordered the social media service to turn over three months’ worth of Harris’s tweets to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors want the account information to press their case against Harris, who was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in October, along with about 700 other protesters accused of blocking the Brooklyn Bridge.
Twitter has appealed the ruling, but Sciarrino said that Twitter and the defense cannot delay the criminal case while they fight the ruling over the tweets.
Earlier this week, Sciarrino told Twitter’s lawyers to have the tweets ready by tomorrow or risk fines since he can’t put the “little blue bird in jail,” which is the company’s logo.
Twitter will hand over the tweets tomorrow, barring any successful last-minute appeals, a source said.
It’s unclear whether Twitter will continue its appeals of the prosecution’s subpoena for the tweets after they have already been turned over, the source said.
So far, courts have found that Twitter users who post messages publicly have no reasonable expectation of privacy.
gsloane@nypsot.com