Reuters Social Media Editor Matthew Keys has been suspended by the outlet after it was announced by authorities that the new media journalist had been indicted on several counts related to allegations he assisted cyber vigilante group Anonymous.
As Social News Daily reported earlier, Matthew Keys has been charged with several felonies, for which he faces up to ten years in prison and a quarter of a million dollars in fines if found guilty.
At the time of our earlier post, Reuters had not commented on Keys’ indictment. Keys himself remained calm and upbeat in his first few tweets following the announcement from the Justice Department, first retweeting a breaking news update about the charges:
Deputy Reuters editor indicted for conspiring with hacker group Anonymous, Justice Department announces – @politico politi.co/12TS2g6
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) March 14, 2013
Immediately following that, Keys tweeted:
I am fine. I found out the same way most of you did: From Twitter. Tonight I’m going to take a break. Tomorrow, business as usual.
— Matthew Keys (@TheMatthewKeys) March 14, 2013
This morning, the Reuters Social Media Editor added:
Good morning. Still fine. To clarify this tweet from yesterday, I found out about the *indictment* from Twitter –
— Matthew Keys (@TheMatthewKeys) March 15, 2013
Despite the bad news, Keys remained upbeat on Twitter today, closely maintaining a positive presence throughout the day — even thanking fellow users who said quotes they’d given had been reframed to appear negative and forgiving associates who’d released private chats because he feels nothing is “off-limits.”
Late this afternoon, the Reuters Social Media Editor retweeted a Reuters post saying:
Attorney for Thomson Reuters employee Matthew Keys says he will fight criminal charges and “maintains his innocence” reut.rs/ZNTri7
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 15, 2013
Most recently, Keys confirmed he was slowing down on Twitter and said:
To be clear: I was indicted. I was never arrested. –
— Matthew Keys (@TheMatthewKeys) March 16, 2013
Reuters confirmed in a statement that Keys had been suspended with pay, noting that the alleged actions in aiding Anonymous occurred prior to his employment with Reuters beginning in 2012.
Keys maintains all contact he had with Anonymous was in a journalistic capacity, and the newswire simply said of the Social Media Editor’s indictment that the company is “committed to obeying the rules and regulations in every jurisdiction in which it operates.”
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