Who owns a journalist’s Twitter account? That’s the central question in the case of Laura Kuenssberg and her former employer, the BBC.

Kuenssberg, BBC’s former chief political correspondent, was poached by ITV, a rival broadcaster in the U.K. Laura built up a Twitter following of more than 60,000 in the last couple of years working for the BBC. Her Twitter account was @BBCLauraK, but as soon as she joined ITV she changed it to @ITVLauraK.

ITV told the Financial Times that Kuenssberg’s Twitter following was “an additional benefit” to hiring her as it will help extend the network’s reach on social media. FT, meanwhile, said the BBC was “magnanimous” about the loss.

“We’re still developing our overall policy but for now we’re approaching individual accounts on a case by case basis,” a BBC rep told FT.

Who do you think owns such a Twitter account: the individual or the organization? It’s a question that will continue to nag at media companies and corporations.

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