New York Court Denies Twitter Motion to Quash Occupy Protester Subpoena
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – A New York criminal court judge today denied Twitter’s motion to quash a court order requiring it to produce information about one of its users, an Occupy Wall Street protester.
The District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan had issued a subpoena for the Twitter records in connection with the prosecution of the protester, Malcolm Harris. The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Twitter’s efforts to protect the constitutional rights of Harris.
Aden Fine, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, found the ruling disappointing. “What is surprising is that the court continued to fail to grapple with one of the key issues underlying this case: do individuals give up their ability to go to court to try to protect their free speech and privacy rights when they use the Internet? As we explained in our brief, the answer has to be no.
“The United States Supreme Court and courts around the country have repeatedly made clear that individuals whose constitutional rights are implicated by government requests for information to third parties have standing to challenge those third-party requests, and there’s no reason for the result to be different when Internet activities are at issue, regardless of whether individuals ‘own’ their Internet speech or whether the Internet companies ‘own’ it,” Fine said.
For a copy of the decision, go to:
www.aclu.org/free-speech/new-york-v-harris-june-30-decision-and-order
For a copy of the friend-of-court brief, go to:
www.aclu.org/files/assets/ows_twitter_subpoena_amicus_brief.pdf
Stay Informed
Every month, you'll receive regular roundups of the most important civil rights and civil liberties developments. Remember: a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU’s privacy policy.
The Latest in National Security
-
ACLU Acknowledges Improvements to DOJ Racial Profiling Policy, But Says Far More is Needed
-
ACLU Applauds Court For Allowing Case Challenging FBI’s Wrongful Prosecution of Chinese American Physics Professor To Move Forward
-
Shen v. Simpson
-
Chinese Immigrants Sue Florida Over Unconstitutional and Discriminatory Law Banning Them From Buying Land
ACLU's Vision
The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.
Learn More About National Security

The ACLU’s National Security Project is dedicated to ensuring that U.S. national security policies and practices are consistent with the Constitution, civil liberties, and human rights.