The US can stop Twitter from releasing details about a government request for user information in a national security investigation, a court ruled, the same week House Republicans grilled national security officials about the surveillance.
Twitter has protested the government’s redaction of a 2014 “transparency report” that contained numerical details of national security-related data requests from the previous year. A US appeals court in San Francisco on Monday agreed with a lower court judge that the Justice Department had shown a “definite” interest in keeping the information confidential.
Based on the classified and unclassified declarations provided by government officials, the court “can see why Twitter’s proposed disclosures would risk making foreign adversaries aware of what it is monitoring and what it is not monitoring — if anything,” US Circuit Judge Daniel Bress said. wrote to a panel of three judges.
A lawyer for Twitter referred a request for comment on the decision to the company; A company spokesman did not respond. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Bruising Battle
Although the case is nearly a decade old, the decision comes as lawmakers and US national security agencies prepare for a battle to make changes to key surveillance programs.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which intelligence officials describe as the ultimate authority, expires on December 31 unless Congress votes to renew it. US agencies are using powers to force internet and technology companies to turn over information about suspected terrorists and foreign spies.
Changes to Section 702 could include changing what companies like Twitter must do in response to government requests.
Former President Donald Trump, who is running for a second term in 2024, and conservative lawmakers have criticized the use of FISA and other spying powers and vowed to curb government powers that affect companies like Twitter. Conservatives have also seized on the “Twitter Files,” information released by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, about how the platform decides to handle certain politically charged news.
Government ‘Weapons’
The House Intelligence Committee plans to question national security officials about the U.S. spying program during Thursday’s hearing on global threats. Also on Thursday, the House Judiciary subcommittee on the federal government’s “weapons” will hold a hearing on the Twitter File.
The case at issue in Monday’s decision involved Twitter’s efforts to share information about two types of federal law enforcement demands on the social media company: a “national security warrant” for customer information, which would cover metadata but not the substance of electronic communications, and an order under FISA, which can include content.
“The government may not waive every First Amendment challenge by invoking national security,” Bress wrote. “But we must exercise the First Amendment with due regard to the government’s interest in securing the security of our country and its people.”
Bress was joined in the opinion by fellow Trump nominee Judge Lawrence VanDyke and Judge Carlos Bea, appointed by former President George W. Bush.
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