A complaint and an FOI request

It still bugs me that I cannot follow Vine on Twitter as he has blocked my account from doing so. While I could set up new accounts ad infinitum I suspect that they would all just end up being blocked in the same way. Every day he tells us "... and you can follow me on Twitter ..." but the simple fact is that I cannot because he does not want me to do so. His hypocrisy is incredible as he is, after all, preventing free speech by restricting any comments that I would wish to make and so almost guaranteeing that any comments agree with his own.

I can still read his feed on Twitter (complete with his newly-updated background picture: https://twitter.com/#!/theJeremyVine - WTF?) but I can only read others' comments on his posts if I logout of Twitter. After logging back in I can reply to his posts, but as I am not a follower most of them seem to vanish.

So, I've submitted a complaint and a Freedom of Information request to the BBC to see if anything can be done about this. I don't expect it will, but it keeps them busy! Both have the same two opening paragraphs:

I have read the BBC's guidelines for its staff on the use of Twitter (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_11_news_official_tweeter_guidance.pdf  and http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-blogs-personal-summary) but cannot find any reference to BBC staff "blocking" people from following their Twitter feed and under what circumstances this would occur.

My Twitter account has been blocked by Jeremy Vine from following his feed (@theJeremyVine) for reasons that are unknown to me, and despite his many suggestions of "you can follow me on Twitter..." during his Radio 2 programmes. His Twitter account includes in its description "All views personal of course" but the BBC guidelines cover these very same "personal" accounts in some detail and so I consider them to still be under the BBC's control to an extent, especially when bearing in mind their promotion during BBC programmes.

The complaint ends with:

My complaint is that I have been blocked from following Mr Vine's Twitter feed and so I am prevented from commenting on his postings. I consider that Mr Vine is not following the BBC guidelines (as specified above).

The FOI request ends with:

I would like to know, please, how many Twitter users Mr Vine has blocked from following his feed.

I will, of course, post any replies here.