[Infowarrior] - Twitter sues US government over attempt to unmask anti-Trump account

[Richard Forno]

Twitter sues US government over attempt to unmask anti-Trump account
by Colin Lecher and Russell Brandom Apr 6, 2017, 3:53pm EDT

Twitter has launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration, after the Department of Homeland Security sought to unmask an anonymous user of an anti-Trump account.

According to Twitter’s suit, filed today in Northern California District Court, US Customs and Border Protection has attempted to use a “limited-purpose investigatory tool” to unmask the owner of the Twitter account “@ALT_uscis.” The account, one of several “alt” or “rogue” government accounts that appeared in the wake of Trump’s ascent to the presidency, was used “to express public criticism of the Department and the current Administration,” according to Twitter’s complaint.

In the suit, Twitter writes that @ALT_uscis has purported to be a dissenting member of US Citizenship and Immigration Services. On March 14th, Twitter received a summons from Customs requesting records that could reveal the identity of the account’s operator, including IP logs and any associated phone number or mailing address. Twitter writes that it later informed the account holder of the summons, and told the agency of its intent to fight the order in court.

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http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/6/15211092/twitter-trump-lawsuit-customs-alt-government