So Who Else Did The Government Demand Info From In The Wikileaks Investigation?

from the and-why-didn't-they-fight-it? dept

Thu, Jan 13th 2011 12:41pm — Mike Masnick

We've already pointed out that Twitter deserves serious praise for standing up to the government's gag order on an information request for some folks associated with Wikileaks. Others noticed the same thing. As Ryan Singel at Wired noted, Twitter beta tested a spine, and that sort of response should be standard. Singel (and some of our own commenters) also pointed out that Twitter was following in the footsteps of Nicholas Merrill, the head of Calyx Internet Access. Merrill, famously, fought a gag order on a National Security Letter he received from the FBI.

Still, as we pointed out in our original post on this, it should make you wonder who else got these gagged data requests from the feds and just rolled over and handed over the info. It appears that others are wondering this as well. There's quite a bit of speculation that both Facebook and Google likely received similar court orders (with similar gags included), and of course neither company will comment. Hopefully, in the future, they'll recognize from Twitter's lead that it's not just possible to stand up to these requests, but it's also a damn good idea.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: government, privacy, searches
Companies: twitter

16 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 1:14pm

Actually, all this does is make me wonder how involved the people from Wikileaks are in all of this. Has Manning told them something that has lead them down this path?

For lack of something better (and because RD will have a fit) I think there is a whole lot more to this story than is being reported.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
bwp (profile), 13 Jan 2011 @ 1:23pm

Re:
Why would you think that Manning has told them something that made the US Govt. make these requests and put the gag orders on the requests?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chargone (profile), 13 Jan 2011 @ 1:26pm

Re:
given that the 'story' is 'we need more information reported, and doing so is smart', that's kind of a given...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 1:26pm

After that I have a whole more respect for Twitter.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 1:30pm

You would think the govt would investigate those who have information leaked about them or maybe BoA since Wikileaks might have condemning info on them. But that's not going to happen, the big corporations that want their dirty work kept secret practically own the government.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 1:53pm

Re: Re:
Because FUD.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 2:37pm

We'll have to wait for the next leak to find out.
Same time next week?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 2:41pm

Re: We'll have to wait for the next leak to find out.
This week Assange is threatening Rupert Murdoch, I gather that News Inc has a story in the making that isn't very good for Julian. His response is that he has documents on Rupe, and will releases them if he does.

Anyone else starting to get a whiff of desperation from Assange-land?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 2:46pm

Re: Re: We'll have to wait for the next leak to find out.
No, but there is a strong odor from TAMland.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 3:33pm

I can not understand how a gag order is constitutional. Clearly the constitution states "shall make no law". It's too bad that it's so dangerous to violate the gag order and try to set the proper legal precedent
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rose M. Welch (profile), 13 Jan 2011 @ 4:13pm

There's quite a bit of speculation that both Facebook and Google likely received similar court orders (with similar gags included), and of course neither company will comment.

And of course, unless you're Glenn Beck, a refusal to deny reasonable allegations pretty much means that you're guilty of them. Shame on both Facebook and Google.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 5:22pm

Re: Re: Re: We'll have to wait for the next leak to find out.
You would have to ask him (or her) if they didn't shower. Assange however it starting to stink of desperation and acting more and more like an information terrorist.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2011 @ 7:59pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: We'll have to wait for the next leak to find out.
Your smell is getting stronger, TAM. You may want to look into it. The neighbors might get upset, you know.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Groove Tiger (profile), 13 Jan 2011 @ 8:49pm

Re:
Of course there is more to the story! And that is why we must fight these gag orders, so we can get the whole story!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DH's Love Child (profile), 14 Jan 2011 @ 6:00am

Re:
But that's not going to happen, the big corporations that want their dirty work kept secret own the government.

FTFY
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 14 Jan 2011 @ 8:00am

Re:
"I can not understand how a gag order is constitutional. Clearly the constitution states "shall make no law". It's too bad that it's so dangerous to violate the gag order and try to set the proper legal precedent"

It can probably be fought using the first amendment.
[ link to this | view in thread ]