Trump’s lawyers demand Facebook information on ‘anti-administration activists’
Washington, Sep 30 (IANS) US President Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked Facebook to provide the private account information of the social media giant’s users engaged in “anti-administration activists”.
“The warrants specifically target the accounts of three Facebook users who are described by their attorneys as anti-administration activists who have spoken out at organised events, and who are generally very critical of this administration’s policies,” CNN reported on Saturday.
The social media giant went through seven months of legal proceedings so it could make all three users aware that administration lawyers wanted their online details.
“We successfully fought in court to be able to notify the three people whose broad account information was requested by the government,” a Facebook spokesperson told CNN.
Meanwhile, on behalf of the targeted activists, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has moved to block the warrants.
The ACLU said in a filing that enforcing the warrants would “reach deeply into individuals’ private lives and protected associational and political activity”, according to Independent.co.uk.
It warns that giving the government access to such broad repositories of data would stifle future speech.
Earlier in February, warrants were issued by the Attorney for the District of Columbia that asked Facebook to furnish details about the activities of three users who spearheaded mass protests against Trump’s inauguration.
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