Epilepsy group files complaint

A GROUP fighting epilepsy in the United States has filed a criminal complaint after its Twitter account was barraged with images that could cause seizures in epileptics.

The Epilepsy Foundation

said on Monday the tweets, which contained “flashing or strobing lights,” were targeted at the foundation’s account and hashtags as they promoted National Epilepsy Awareness Month, and could have induced seizures in the minority of epileptics vulnerable to such images.

“While the population of those with photosensitive epilepsy is small, the impact can be quite serious. Many are not even aware they have photosensitivity until they have a seizure,” Jacqueline French, chief medical and innovation officer of the Epilepsy Foundation said in a statement.

Exposure to “flashing lights at certain intensities or certain visual patterns,” can trigger seizures in about three percent of epileptics suffering from photosensitive epilepsy, the foundation said.