Attorneys representing WikiLeaks volunteers today asked a Virginia judge to overturn an earlier ruling and bar the U.S. Department of Justice from gaining access to their clients' Twitter accounts.
In a 41-page brief (PDF) filed today, attorneys for the Twitter account holders said prosecutors' request violates federal law, "intrudes upon" their clients' First Amendment right to freedom of association, and "threatens" their right to privacy.
The accounts at issue include Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of the Icelandic parliament who helped with WikiLeaks' release of a classified U.S. military video; Seattle-based WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum; and Dutch hacker and XS4ALL Internet provider co-founder Rop Gonggrijp. The order also sought records relating to Assange and suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning, who did not contest the request.
The order approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan would require Twitter to divulge "all" direct messages, even ones unrelated to WikiLeaks, argue the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and a host of private attorneys representing the Twitter account holders. It "has a chilling effect not only on the parties' speech and association rights," they say, "but on the rights of Twitter users in general."