Twitter sues US Government over national security requests; wants to reveal more
Twitter is suing the US government. The world’s largest microblogging platform has said that restrictions on what it can say publicly about the government’s national security requests for user data violate the firm’s First Amendment rights.
Concern over First Amendment
This lawsuit will see Twitter seek to go further than five other technology companies that earlier this year reached a settlement with the government on the permissible scope of disclosure, according to The Washington Post.
The move by Twitter comes at a time of heightened concern about the scale of government surveillance, the Post adds.
“It’s our belief that we are entitled under the First Amendment to respond to our users’ concerns and to the statements of US government officials by providing information about the scope of US government surveillance — including what types of legal process have not been received,” Twitter vice president Ben Lee said in a post online.
“We should be free to do this in a meaningful way, rather than in broad, inexact ranges.”
Technology companies are striving to reassure customers about their commitment to privacy, says the Post.
“Twitter is pressing for the ability to be more candid in its twice-a-year transparency reports than the government has been willing to permit.”
Tech firms at the moment may report the numbers of requests they receive from the government in broad bands — such as zero to 999, for instance.
Twitter would like to be able to disclose the exact number of national-security-related orders received in any particular category — including zero, if that is the case.
In its complaint tthe company said it wants wants to report data in a way that reflects the “limited scope” of US government surveillance of Twitter accounts.
Unlike e-mail and phone communications, most Twitter posts are public. Unlike large e-mail providers, Twitter does not receive huge numbers of requests.
The Justice Department said it was reviewing Twitter’s complaint.
In a statement, spokeswoman Emily Pierce said the government “worked collaboratively” with other technology companies to reach the settlement this year to allow them “to provide broad information on government requests while also protecting national security.”
Government officials have also said that as the FBI and National Security Agency are seeking to defend the country from real security threats, the more that the world knows about their sources and methods, the greater the risk of losing capabilities.
Twitter’s lawsuit was filed after months of effort to reach an out-of-court agreement, according to the complaint filed in US District Court in California on Tuesday.
In April, says the Post, Twitter sent the government a draft copy of its July transparency report with a request that it be reviewed for publication.
In September, FBI General Counsel James Baker told Twitter attorney Michael Sussmann, “We . . . have concluded that information contained in the report is classified and cannot be publicly released.”