Twitter Is Suing the U.S. Government After Homeland Security Demanded an Anti-Trump User's Information

Company cites free speech for anonymous users

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, asking a federal court to protect its right to prevent the government from unmasking users who have spoken critically of President Donald Trump.

In a lawsuit filed today, Twitter said Homeland Security in March demanded that Twitter release information about a user associated with one of the accounts purportedly run by dissenting employees working for various federal government agencies.

According to court documents reviewed by Adweek, the Department of Homeland Security on March 14 sent a summons to Twitter requesting information about @Alt_uscis, one of several “rogue” Twitter accounts that surfaced in the days following Trump’s inauguration and has since gained tens of thousands of followers.

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