Twitter Vs. US Government: Judge Blocks Feds From Hiding Surveillance Requests

Twitter’s ongoing legal battle against the U.S. Government was given a boost Thursday after a federal judge ruled the FBI and Department of Justice can’t block the social media giant from publishing “classified” government surveillance requests.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected the U.S. Government’s push to prevent Twitter from publishing its own information on national security requests and surveillance warrants it has received from federal agencies, according to filings published by Courthouse News. The legal fight between Twitter and the feds started in 2014 when the company accused the FBI, U.S. Justice Department and then-Attorney General Eric Holder of violating their First Amendment rights by forbidding them from publishing redacted transparency reports. The information detailed DOJ and FBI surveillance requests, including the agencies’ access to customer data.

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The DOJ and FBI argue that their policy forcing companies to report their data in broad ranges, such as 0-999, is properly classified. The feds say Twitter’s release of exact numbers would be damaging to national security and would reveal damaging information to enemies.

Twitter rejects the government’s claim that specific data will hurt national security, says the redactions are improperly classified and blocking their release of the information is unconstitutional prior restraint on its protected First Amendment rights.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agrees with Twitter.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled Thursday in an Oakland, Calif., federal court: “The government has not presented evidence, beyond a generalized explanation, to demonstrate that disclosure of the information in the draft transparency report would present such a grave and serious threat of damage to national security as to meet the applicable strict-scrutiny standard.”

Federal Judge Sides With Twitter In Free Speech Lawsuit

The federal judge’s siding with Twitter denies without prejudice the government’s motion for a summary judgment against Twitter and allows the lawsuit to go forward – at least for now.

“[T]he court does not agree with the government’s position that simply determining information meets the requirements for classification under Executive Order 13526 ends the constitutional analysis,” writes Judge Gonzalez Rogers.

She ruled the government’s national security risk claims aren’t based on any actual data showing Twitter’s disclosure will harm national security. The disclosures were well within the disclosure ranges as laid out in the USA Freedom Act.

“The government’s position … ignores the important First Amendment safeguards that would be imperiled by such extreme deference to the executive’s classification decisions,” the judge wrote, in denying the government’s motion.

Twitter’s lawyers expressed pleasure at the decision and dubbed it a major win for free speech.

“This is an important issue for anyone who believes in a strong First Amendment, and we will continue with our efforts to share our complete transparency report,” the company said Friday.

The Department of Justice did not respond to news outlets for comment as of Friday.