"Doe has alleged that when the DHS sent a "summons" to Meta asking for subscriber information, it infringed on core First Amendment-protected activity, i.e., the right to publish content critical of government agencies and officials without fear of government retaliation. He also accused DHS of ignoring federal rules and seeking to vastly expand its authority to subpoena information to unmask ICE's biggest critics online."
"In response, DHS alleged that the community watch group that posted "pictures and videos of agents' faces, license plates, and weapons, among other things," was akin to "threatening ICE agents to impede the performance of their duties." Claiming that the subpoena had nothing to do with silencing government critics, they argued that a statute regulating imports and exports empowered DHS to investigate the group's alleged threats to "assault, kidnap, or murder" ICE agents."
"DHS claims that Meta must comply with the subpoena because the government needs to investigate a "serious" threat "to the safety of its agents and the performance of their duties." On Wednesday, a US district judge will hear arguments to decide if Doe is right or if DHS can broadly unmask critics online by claiming it's investigating supposed threats to ICE agents."
DHS seeks to unmask the Facebook and Instagram owner of a community watch group monitoring ICE in Pennsylvania. The account holder, John Doe, says DHS's summons to Meta for subscriber information violates First Amendment protections for anonymous speech. Doe alleges DHS ignored federal rules and is trying to expand its subpoena authority to identify critics. DHS says the group's posts, including pictures and videos of agents' faces, license plates, and weapons, constituted threats that could impede agents' duties and invokes an imports-and-exports statute to justify investigating alleged threats such as 'assault, kidnap, or murder.' A US district judge will decide whether Meta must comply.
Read at Ars Technica
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