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Mayor Jim Watson has concluded a legal Twitter war with three of his critics by unblocking them and acknowledging that his is a public account.

The three plaintiffs — lawyer and community activist Emilie Taman, Dylan Penner of the Council of Canadians and James Hutt of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers — alleged in an October lawsuit that Watson had infringed their constitutional right to freedom of expression by blocking them from his official Twitter account. They argued that his Twitter feed was a public account used in the course of his duties as mayor.

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In a statement Friday, the mayor’s office announced that Watson has bowed to that position in reaching a legal settlement.

“Upon further reflection, Mayor Watson agrees with this view and has decided to directly address the specific concerns raised by unblocking these persons from his Twitter account moving forward.”

Watson thanked the litigants for bringing the issue forward and vowed to encourage all councillors to maintain “a high level of accessibility through social media.”