Journalists beware: If you file an unflattering story about Twitter, be prepared to feel the thunderous wrath of the company’s PR chief Sean Garrett.

And by “thunderous wrath,” I mean that he will unleash the social media equivalent of a nose-thumbing by—gasp!—unfollowing you.

Silicon Valley Watcher’s Tom Foremski criticized Twitter for demanding a tax break from the City of San Francisco. In response, Garrett unfollowed Foremski on Twitter.

Shortly thereafter, Foremski blogged about Garrett’s symbolic move.

“That's a lame response to an important local story. I'm sure Mr. Garrett has unfollowed others who have been critical of Twitter. What a great response to dealing with unpleasant news—stick your head in the sand. If you can't see it, it doesn't exist.”

Sure, this may seem innocuous, petty, lame, and perfectly sophomoric, but it could set a dangerous precedent of PR professionals’ using passive aggression to thwart critical journalists.

Or, as many journalists like to call it, business as usual.