US subpoenas Wikileaks tweets, and why this could affect you

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The US government has subpoenaed Twitter in a bid to support an ongoing criminal investigation into whether Wikileaks and people involved or connected to Wikileaks, including an Icelandic member of parliament, broke the law.

According to Wikileaks lawyer Mark Stephens live on the BBC News a short time ago, it is believed Facebook and Google (see here) have also been contacted regarding Wikileaks members and potential whistleblowers.

Update (12:20am GMT): Mark Stephens on the BBC News also makes clear that the court order will also cover the “600,000 odd followers that Wikileaks has on Twitter“.

The order asks specifically for names of those attached to selected accounts, user and screen names, and any registered mailing or postal addresses. It also asks for email addresses, credit card details where possible, and even content relating to connected mobile phones.

The server logs which could identify the computer and geographical location of where even private messages were sent from have also been ordered to be handed over.

According to CNN:

“A federal court in Virginia has ordered Twitter to provide information for each account registered to Assange, U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, Rop Gonggrijp, a reported computer hacker from the Netherlands, and Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of parliament in Iceland and a former volunteer with WikiLeaks, according to documents sent to CNN by Jónsdóttir.”

Twitter is in a difficult position. Considering their stance during the Iranian elections supporting the freedom of speech, it will appear as if the company is backtracking or giving into pressure by handing over details of its users to its government.

Jónsdóttir retweeted a message purporting Twitter’s efforts, however, in bringing this subpoena into the public domain.

This case should resonate with younger users especially, as prolific social network users, that US law can apply to users of social networking sites to users outside the United States, as seen in this case.

Though datacenters are held worldwide in different locations to allow network load balancing, locale reliability and data backups, the organisations which provide these services are based mostly in the US. Both Twitter and Facebook are based in California, as are many startup and social media companies.

For example, if one publishes a threatening tweet from the UK to a service based in the US, this can be used in a UK or US court of law if the company is subpoenaed.

Users should also be reminded that sharing links to still-classified documents hosted by Wikileaks could be risky to future career prospects, such as in the public sector or the diplomatic corps.

The younger generation who are largely unaware of legal processes should be aware that it is nearly impossible to delete a message from the Web once it has been published. Also, as this case shows, published content even from social networking sites can be used against you in a court of law.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/u ... t-you/7610



So....anyone else here follow Wikileaks on Twitter?

lol...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10438686-265.html

just lol...

And don't neglect the fact that twitter is fighting it...which is how it came to be public information. There most likely were subpoenas from other websites as well...such as Facebook and Google...who both didn't fight it.

The greatest threat to freedom and democracy isn't terrorists.... it's the U.S. government.


The U.S. has turned into a fascist dictatorship working on behalf of major corporations and against citizens.

It wouldn't surprise me if there ends up being another variant on the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Not Shredded Tweet topic

Are the Tweets public? if so, then they can be viewed.

People really must be careful about what is done online. The past is like dirty laundry in the closet. It does not come out clean on its own.

That's been the most ironic thing in US history. A group that is against communism due to it having a big government which degenerated into tyranny, yet the group itself using the government to silence the opposition. The HUAC is in fact the polar opposite of apple pie.

I don't think another HUAC is gonna happen anytime soon though...

It is public but finding out what servers I may have posted on to find out my location since I never surrended such info to twitter isn't public information.

To Serve, not Protect topic

Once I visited a WP member's website and a flash across the screen indicated where I was posting and my web address/server location. I got the hell out of there as fast as my mouse would scurry!

Good warning, Ska.

You know...online use is a lot like a slug...it leaves a trail.

Also a reason why when I can, I prefer to browse via randomized proxies. Only issue there is that it tends to eliminate the ability to post on anything that requires a login cookie.

IvyMike is right the government is turning into a quasi fascist schill for corporations. Notice Mr Nice Guy Liberal Barack Obama isn't stopping this. Obama and Bush are the same, they just tell different fairy tales.

Sounds like someone has been reading Glenn Greenwald... And I wholly approve. Everyone should be reading his column over on Salon, it's really horrifying just how out of control the USG has gotten, and the continuing Wikileaks saga is just one of the more visible signs of it, with Greenwald being it's chief cataloger at the moment.

Bring it. It would be an honor to be on a list with the rest of the patriots that support Wikileaks.

Let's see if you feel the same way when you get passed over for a job, or put on a watchlist for extra harassment at airports, or are blocked from flying entirely.

I like the general attitude, but it needs to be a matter of taking on the government and forcing them to stop this kind of behavior.

^letting a potential opponent know who you are should really only be done if it serves a purpose.

I see it more of a scare tactic than anything. They want people to afraid of supporting Wikileaks or anything else that speaks out against the ruling class.