Should Twitter be forced to reveal anti-Semitic and racist users? That's exactly what a court in France is asking the company to do.

Several French groups demanded in a recent lawsuit that Twitter identify anonymous users posting anti-Jewish messages they argued broke French law, which prohibits Holocaust denial and hate speech. A French judge agreed and ordered the company to reveal the users, but Twitter is hesitant to comply, reports The New York Times.

Twitter is currently reviewing the judge's decision, a Twitter spokesperson told Mashable.

The company's official policy is not to reveal anonymous users unless there's a court order from an American court, as all Twitter user data is stored in the United States.

Twitter has a mixed record of complicance with European hate speech and anti-racism laws: In October of last year, it blocked neo-Nazi accounts on a request from Germany, where local law bans neo-Nazi content. However, Twitter received one content removal request from a French government agency or law enforcement organization between January and July of last year, with which it did not comply, according to Twitter's first transparency report.

SEE ALSO: Twitter: We Comply with 63% of Government Requests

If Twitter decides against cooperating in this particular case, French authorities will be given two options: Give up or try to open the case in an American court through an international legal process which the British government used in 2011 to unveil an anonymous user charged with defamation. In that case, Twitter complied with Britain's demands once a Californian court order was issued.

While the French case may seem like an isolated incident, it speaks to a much larger issue in international technology law: When a platform such as Twitter is based in one country but users break a law in another, which country gets jurisdiction over the case? Watching this particular case closely may help at least partially answer that vexing question.

Should Twitter unveil users accused of breaking French hate speech laws or let them remain persons unknown? Share in the comments.

Photo via JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images; photo shows approximately 20 Israeli demonstrators protesting outside the Swedish embassy in Tel Aviv on August 24, 2009.