{"id":309004,"date":"2017-04-08T09:11:33","date_gmt":"2017-04-08T09:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=309004"},"modified":"2017-04-08T09:11:33","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T09:11:33","slug":"twitter-forces-us-to-drop-demand-for-trump-critics-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/04\/twitter-forces-us-to-drop-demand-for-trump-critics-details\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter forces US to drop demand for Trump critic’s details"},"content":{"rendered":"
The US government has dropped its request for the identity of an anti-Trump Twitter account, just a day after Twitter went to court over the issue.<\/p>\n
@ALT_USCIS anonymously criticised President Trump\u2019s immigration policy, and claimed to be run by employees at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.<\/p>\n
US government officials issued a summons for identifying information.<\/p>\n
But Twitter said that demand had been withdrawn after it filed a lawsuit.<\/p>\n
The @ALT_USCIS account’s followers also ballooned from 38,000 to 158,000 during the lawsuit’s single-day lifespan.<\/p>\n
The original summons from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency demanded “all records regarding the twitter account @ALT_USCIS to include, user names, account login, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and IP (computer) addresses”.<\/p>\n
But the law cited by the agency – which is part of the Department of Homeland Security – is typically used to obtain records about imported goods.<\/p>\n
The summons also demanded the information by 13 March 2017 – a day before the request was even sent to Twitter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Twitter went to court in San Francisco to block the move, saying the CBP was “abusing a limited-purpose investigatory tool” and stifling freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
The micro-blogging service was backed by the American Civil Liberties union (ACLU), which said it would join the court battle.<\/p>\n
But the request was withdrawn by the government a day later, after Twitter’s court filing became public.<\/p>\n
A justice department official told AFP news agency that the investigation had ended – but no details were given.<\/p>\n
“We want to thank @twitter and @aclu for standing up for the right of free anonymous speech,” the @ALT_USCIS account tweeted. “Thank you resistance for standing up for us.”<\/p>\n
In January, when Donald Trump became President Trump, several so-called “alternative” accounts for US government services began appearing online.<\/p>\n
Many claimed to be controlled by current of former staff members.<\/p>\n
Twitter said this is “a new and innovative class of American speakers” who need anonymity because they could face retaliation or lose their jobs.<\/p>\n