So remember how President Donald Trump (a.k.a. @realDonaldTrump) loves Twitter and xemphim18 trungquoccredits it with helping him win the election?
Well, Twitter is suing the U.S. government for demanding records of an anti-Trump account, Reuters reported Thursday. Twitter confirmed the report to Mashable.
SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert thinks the GOP's Trumpcare seems a lot like 'Game of Thrones'Twitter is leveraging First Amendment rights to protect the user @ALT_USCIS. “The rights of free speech afforded Twitter’s users and Twitter itself under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution include a right to disseminate such anonymous or pseudonymous political speech," Twitter wrote in its lawsuit.
The account is called ALT Immigration and the Twitter bio reads, "Immigration resistance . Team 2.0 1/2 Not the views of DHS or USCIS. Old fellow drank russian soup. #altgov."
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According to Twitter, there is no legal reason, such as criminal or civil defense, for the U.S. government to demand the account. “Defendants have not even attempted to meet that burden. For these and other reasons discussed below, Twitter respectfully requests that this Court declare the summons unlawful and enjoin its enforcement," the lawsuit reads.
Twitter also made note of a pretty laughable error by the government. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection had sent a fax to Twitter ordering the company to produce the records of the account to the CPB office in Washington D.C. by 11.45 a.m. on March 13. But, they received the fax the day after. Apparently, the government would appreciate if Twitter had the ability to time travel.
It wouldn't be the first time. Twitter sued the government back in 2014 over the restrictions the government imposed on publishing national security related surveillance requests.
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You may remember that per the NSA leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, Twitter was not one of the companies that graciously handed data over to the government. In fact, Twitter wanted more transparency, as Mashable reported.
Back in 2014, Twitter took issue with a deal struck by the U.S. Department of Justice with Google, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and Microsoft.
Now the issue at hand is allegedly Trump and user data.
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It also wouldn't be the first time Twitter went to court over one account. The Manhattan district attorney's office subpoenaed @BicycleLobby, an anonymous account, in 2014.
Twitter is respected among the tech community and advocacy groups for its resistance to government demands and commitment to user privacy. As Twitter wrote in its latest transparency report, "When possible, Twitter attempts to narrow requests for account information or pushes back on requests in their entirety due to various circumstances."
Twitter vs U.S. government by mashablescribd on Scribd