Melbourne: Now Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faces the hazards of online social networking as he becomes the 'follower' of pornographic communities through his official Twitter account.
A bare-breasted woman in handcuffs, an online adult super store and a pornographic blog were among dozens of dodgy accounts followed by the prime minister among his list of supporters, community groups and wife Therese Rein.
An embarrassed spokesman for Rudd admitted an automated program selected Twitter accounts for him to follow.
"While the Kevin PM Team try to monitor the follow backs, with more than 900,000 followers this is a very large task," the spokesman said.
To "follow" someone on Twitter usually requires a user to view and approve a profile.
Other profiles followed by the PM include a gay resort in Phuket, blogs offering sex shows via webcams and an online store selling adult goods, reported heraldsun.co.au.
Rudd is known as an eager Tweeter, using the medium to announce policies and recently the engagement of his son.
About 900,000 accounts follow the PM on Twitter, while he follows about 200,000.
Young Media Australia vice-president Elizabeth Handsley said Rudd's questionable online companions highlighted the dangers of social media.
"There seems to be an attitude with new media like Twitter that anyone can just get on and have a go without a problem," she said.
"We need to understand the platform and know how it works before using it safely - this is an example of that."
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