Coalition Defends Facebook Against Gag Orders Possibly Related to Inauguration Protests

blogged the Electronic Frontier Foundation Wednesday. The EFF-led coalition, which also includes Access Now, the Center for Democracy & Technology and New America’s Open Technology Institute, filed the brief last week. EFF staff attorneys Nate Cardozo and Andrew Crocker blogged that the case is sealed but Facebook is fighting several gag orders for search warrants for user content. They said Facebook petitioned the D.C. Court of Appeals -- after it lost a challenge in D.C. Superior Court -- to open the proceeding to amicus briefs "and to reveal that Facebook argues that 'neither the government’s investigation nor its interest in Facebook user information' is a secret." (A search of the case in the court's online system was unsuccessful.) Cardozo and Crocker speculated the warrants are related to the presidential inauguration day protests when D.C. police "arrested hundreds of protestors, charging many with felony rioting." More than 200 people were arrested and indicted on felony rioting charges in protests during the day, according to media reports. Cardozo and Crocker wrote that in late January some defendants had received a notice from Facebook that law enforcement had subpoenaed their noncontent account information. The gag orders, said EFF, infringe on the First Amendment and invade Facebook users' rights "to speak and associate anonymously on a matter of public interest" and be given notice and the opportunity to challenge the warrants. "As we point out in our brief, if the government’s investigation into the Facebook accounts is already known, there’s no way that a gag can prevent any harm flowing from notifying the users and allowing them to challenge the search warrants," wrote Cardozo and Crocker. Oral argument for the case is scheduled for September even though the case is sealed, they added. A Facebook spokesman emailed there "are important First Amendment concerns with this case, including the government’s refusal to let us notify three people of broad requests for their account information in connection with public events." He said the company appreciates the support of companies and civil society organizations "in arguing for people’s constitutional rights to learn about and challenge these search warrants.”