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

[riversedge]

35. The ACLU is involved-representing the account holder. GOOD!!..

... The CBP summons doesn't state any reason for the demand — a key omission that is at the heart of Twitter's response.

Twitter said CBP was obligated to demonstrate that some criminal or civil offense had been committed and that outing the account holders' identities was the least restrictive way to advance the investigation.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which told NBC News that is representing the account holder, similarly argued that the government hadn't presented a strong justification for demanding the information.

"In this case the government has given no reason at all, leading to concerns that it is simply trying to stifle dissent," said Nathan Freed Wessler, a lawyer with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

In any event, Twitter's lawyers wrote, "Permitting CBP to pierce the pseudonym of the @ALT_USCIS account would have a grave chilling effect on the speech of that account in particular and on the many other 'alternative agency' accounts that have been created to voice dissent to government policies."