Twitter sues U.S. over demand for records on anti-Trump account

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. They're on the #AltGovt Megathread.

It's the Streisand Effect at work.

#AltGovt Megathread: Unofficial Government Agency Twitter Accounts, Updated April 4, 2017

ALT Immigration: @ALT_USCIS

#resistance, Official inside resistance ALT Immigration . Team 2.0 Not the views of DHS or USCIS. old team follow died

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Link to tweet

Another source:

Twitter sues over feds’ request to unmask owner of @ALT_USCIS account

By Josh Gerstein | 04/06/17 04:43 PM EDT

Twitter is suing the federal government over what the company says is an unconstitutional effort to expose the identity of the creator one of many anti-Trump "alt" federal agency accounts that popped up soon after President Donald Trump was sworn in.

The short-message social-media site sued the Department of Homeland Security Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, seeking to void a summons a Customs and Border Protection agent sent to the company demanding that it turn over records identifying those behind the "@ALT_USCIS" account—a Twitter handle apparently used by one or more employees of the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"Defendants may not compel Twitter to disclose information regarding the real identities of these users without first demonstrating that some criminal or civil offense has been committed, that unmasking the users’ identity is the least restrictive means for investigating that offense, that the demand for this information is not motivated by a desire to suppress free speech, and that the interests of pursuing that investigation outweigh the important First Amendment rights of Twitter and its users," Twitter's attorneys wrote.

CBP warned Twitter not to notify the owner of the account, but the company did so after CBP said it did not intend to obtain a court order blocking such disclosure. The social-media company complains that the summons it received was issued under a federal law that pertains to investigations of illegal importation of merchandise.
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Authors:

Josh Gerstein |  [e-mail] |  @joshgerstein