From Iceland — Federal Court Rules On Icelandic MP's Twitter Case

Federal Court Rules On Icelandic MP’s Twitter Case

Published November 11, 2011

A federal court has ruled that social networking site Twitter must allow the US Department of Justice to have full access to Birgitta Jónsdóttir’s account.
The case actually surrounds two other former Wikileaks volunteers as well, and the legal battle has been a long one. Last March, a federal magistrate also ruled in the US government’s favour, despite objections from lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
At the time, EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said in a press release, “With so much of our digital private information being held by third parties—whether in the cloud or on social networking sites like Twitter—the government can track your every move and statement without you ever having a chance to protect yourself.”
And so the legal fight continued, to where now another federal court has backed up the previous ruling.
Birgitta told RÚV that the verdict did not surprise her, but has as yet not decided whether she will appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court. She also contends that her lawyers were not allowed to speak in court, and that her case has implications that affect all internet communication.
For more background on this story, read Christopher Czechowicz’s article on the matter.

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