A British politician wrongly accused of child sex abuse has dropped his threat to sue people who named him on Twitter - as long as they have fewer than 500 followers.

Alistair McAlpine is asking those tweeters with fewer than 500 followers who falsely labeled him a pedophile to donate 25 pounds ($38) to a children's charity.

McAlpine has already received damages from the BBC, which ran a report last year linking him to decades-old child sex abuse.

The BBC report did not name McAlpine, a member of the House of Lords, but it led to widespread Internet chatter about him.

McAlpine said Thursday he would proceed with a lawsuit against Sally Bercow, wife of the British Parliament speaker, who named him on Twitter, where she had thousands of followers.