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The WikiLeaks-related Twitter court orders were
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
2703(d) orders (called so because they are authorized by USC 18 2703(d)) accompanied by
gag order A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed onto any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...
s (authorized by USC 18 2705(b), both as differentiated from
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
s and
national security letter A national security letter (NSL) is an administrative subpoena issued by the United States government to gather information for national security purposes. NSLs do not require prior approval from a judge. The Stored Communications Act, Fair Cred ...
s) issued to
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
in relation to ongoing investigations of
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
issued on 14 December 2010. While only five people were individually named within the subpoena, according to lawyer Mark Stephens the order effectively entailed the collection in relation to criminal prosecution of the personal identifying information of over six hundred thousand Twitter users, principally those who were followers of WikiLeaks. The U.S. government also sent Twitter a subpoena for information about
Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
and several other WikiLeaks-related persons, including
Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning; December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage A ...
. Twitter appealed against the accompanying
gag order A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed onto any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...
in order to be able to disclose its existence to its users, and was ultimately successful in its appeal. Subsequent reactions included the discussion of secret subpoenas in the U.S., criticism of the particular subpoena issued, an immediate 0.5 percent reduction in the number of Twitter followers of WikiLeaks and calls for the recognition and emulation of Twitter's stance.


Chronology

Prior to the December 2010 subpoena relating to the WikiLeaks, Twitter had received at least one subpoena for information about its users. Just after the Attorney-General of the US state of Pennsylvania
Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1995 ...
was elected as governor of Pennsylvania, it was revealed that he had issued a subpoena against Twitter to demand personal information on two users who criticised him. The sub-poena included phone numbers, email addresses, banking info, and internet accounts. It also ordered Twitter to produce the information without informing the users. ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' claimed that the subpoena was issued because of the two users' criticisms of Corbett. Corbett's spokesperson said that the subpoena was issued as "part of an ongoing criminal investigation". The organizations
Public Citizen Public Citizen is a non-profit, progressive consumer rights advocacy group and think tank based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Lobbying efforts Public Citizen advocates before all three branches of the Unit ...
and the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
(ACLU) provided legal aid to the users. The subpoena was later dropped by the Attorney-General's office. On 11 March, a U.S. judge upheld the request of the federal prosecutor.


Subpoena issued with accompanying gag order

On 14 December 2010 the U.S. Department of Justice issued a subpoena directing Twitter to provide information in accordance with USC 18 2703(d). The order additionally directed that Twitter should not disclose the existence of the subpoena without prior authorization. Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning,
Rop Gonggrijp Robbert (Rop) Valentijn Gonggrijp (born 14 February 1968) is a Dutch hacker and one of the founders of XS4ALL. Biography Gonggrijp was born in Amsterdam. While growing up in Wormer in the Dutch Zaanstreek area, he became known as a teenage hack ...
,
Jacob Appelbaum Jacob Appelbaum (born 1 April 1983) is an American independent journalist, computer security researcher, artist, and hacker. He studied at the Eindhoven University of Technology and was a core member of the Tor project, a free software network des ...
and
Birgitta Jonsdottir Birgitta is the Swedish and Icelandic form of the Irish Gaelic female name ''Brighid''. Brighid or Brigid was the name of an ancient Celtic goddess, and its English form is Bridget. Birgitta and its alternate forms Birgit and Britta became common ...
were named in the subpoena. The requested information included their user names, addresses, telephone numbers, bank account details, and credit card numbers. Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens argued that since the application also extended to destination email addresses and IP addresses for any communication stored for the named accounts, personal identifying information was to be collected for some six hundred and thirty-four thousand followers of WikiLeaks' Twitter feed. WikiLeaks alleged it had evidence suggesting similar subpoenas had been issued to
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, and lawyer Mark Stephens said that similar information had been sought not only from Google and Facebook but also from
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
's
Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
unit. WikiLeaks called for Google and Facebook to unseal the subpoenas if they had received them, but no spokespeople were available to comment.


Appeal and publication of the subpoena

Twitter applied to notify its users of the issue of the subpoena. On 5 January 2011 it was notified of the success in its appeal, allowing the company to inform its users and to give them ten days in turn in which to appeal. After Twitter informed Jonsdottir, she released a tweet stating "USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?" Aden Fine of the ACLU said that "Twitter's e-mail indicated that it had not yet turned over to the U.S. government any records that prosecutors requested."


Users' opposition to the subpoena

Among those specifically named by the subpoena, Assange, Jonsdottir, Appelbaum and Gonggrijp all stated that they would oppose it. Lawyer Aden Fine of the ACLU participated in defending those subpoenaed. Jonsdottir stated that she had contacted the Icelandic Minister of Justice and Human Rights and commented that the "U.S. government is trying to criminalize
whistleblowing A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
and publication of whistleblowing material."


Subsequent reactions

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' observed that the US government issues over fifty thousand such requests for information each year, typically accompanied by the so-called gag order, linking the case to how "1986 Privacy Law is Outrun by the Web".
Nicholas Merrill Nicholas Merrill is an American system administrator, computer programmer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Calyx Internet Access, an Internet and hosted service provider founded in 1995, and of the non-profit Calyx Institute. He was the fi ...
, the first to file a constitutional challenge against the use of national security letters, describes this as "a perfect example of how the government can use its broad powers to silence people". Lawmakers in Iceland criticised the subpoena as an instance of overreach. Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, has interpreted the subpoena as a sign that US authorities were desperate to develop a criminal case against Assange. He stated that the subpoena was an attempt to "shake the electronic tree in the hope some kind of criminal charge drops out the bottom of it."
Juan Cole John Ricardo Irfan "Juan" Cole (born October 23, 1952) is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia. Dead link; no archive located. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University ...
, a historian of the modern
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
, described the subpoena as "a
fishing expedition A fishing expedition is an informal, pejorative term for a non-specific search for information, especially incriminating information. It is most frequently organized by policing authorities. Media In the UK, Abu Hamza and Yaser al-Sirri, Jim Dav ...
and legally fishy in that regard" that "is being pursued by the Obama administration out of terror that further massive leaks will be made public." He contrasted the legal action against people associated with WikiLeaks with the lack of legal actions against "Bush administration officials, such as Dick Cheney, who ordered people tortured ndhave not been in any way inconvenienced by Mssrs. Obama and Holder." Cole suggested that users of
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
should shift from Facebook and Twitter that have "internet monopolies" and "are in turn tools of US government control" to social media based in Europe or the
Global South The concept of Global North and Global South (or North–South divide in a global context) is used to describe a grouping of countries along socio-economic and political characteristics. The Global South is a term often used to identify region ...
. WikiLeaks' list of 637,000 followers on Twitter dropped by 3,000 in the hours following the announcement of the US Department of Justice action. Professor of Law
Ben Saul Ben Saul is the current Challis Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. He has appeared as an advocate in international, regional and national courts outside Australia, and he ...
argued that the US had been compelled to attempt to obtain information on citizens of other countries through action against its own companies due to its lack of overseas law enforcement powers, suggesting that "the real question is how will other countries react … will other governments try to do things to shut down this kind of investigation?" Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands, Romania and the UK have questioned whether US 'snooping' on the Twitter accounts of those linked with WikiLeaks is in violation of European privacy laws. The
Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
has since, comparing their law enforcement policies, stressed "how important it is that
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
companies do what they can to protect the sensitive data they hold from the prying eyes of the government".''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' staff writer Ryan Singel said that Twitter's "action in asking for the gag order to be overturned sets a new precedent that we can only hope that other companies begin to follow" and summarised his point of view by saying "Twitter beta-tested a spine" and that Twitter's response should become an "industry standard".


See also

* American Civil Liberties Union v. Ashcroft (2004) — first constitutional challenge of US PATRIOT Act
national security letter A national security letter (NSL) is an administrative subpoena issued by the United States government to gather information for national security purposes. NSLs do not require prior approval from a judge. The Stored Communications Act, Fair Cred ...
provisions *
Electronic Communications Privacy Act Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) was enacted by the United States Congress to extend restrictions on government wire taps of telephone calls to include transmissions of electronic data by computer ( ''et seq.''), added new pro ...
(and its
Stored Communications Act The Stored Communications Act (SCA, codified at 18 U.S.C. Chapter 121 §§ 2701–2712) is a law that addresses voluntary and compelled disclosure of "stored wire and electronic communications and transactional records" held by third-party i ...
) — US Act of 1986, before widespread email and cellphone usage *
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign po ...
— US Act of 1978, preventing spying on US citizens without a court order *
Information sensitivity Information sensitivity is the control of access to information or knowledge that might result in loss of an advantage or level of security if disclosed to others. Loss, misuse, modification, or unauthorized access to sensitive information can ...
*
Patriot Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropr ...
— US Act of 2001, introducing counter-terrorism measures *
Warrant canary A warrant canary is a method by which a communications service provider aims to inform its users that the provider has been served with a government subpoena despite legal prohibitions on revealing the existence of the subpoena. The warrant canar ...


References

{{WikiLeaks Legal cases involving WikiLeaks Privacy of telecommunications Twitter controversies WikiLeaks