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Ear to the Ground

Twitter Subpoenaed Over WikiLeaks

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Posted on Jan 8, 2011
twitter.com

New drama over WikiLeaks has come to light. The U.S. government has subpoenaed Twitter to secretly hand over details of five accounts on its site thought to be related to leaked classified information, suggesting a wide-ranging trawl for other evidence online.

WikiLeaks has demanded Google and Facebook admit to any subpoenas they received as well.

It is commendable that the U.S. government used the appropriate mechanism for obtaining evidence, rather than the Patriot Act-enabled spying we have been accustomed to. —JCL

The Guardian:

WikiLeaks has demanded that Google and Facebook reveal the contents of any US subpoenas they may have received after it emerged that a court in Virginia had ordered Twitter to secretly hand over details of accounts on the micro-blogging site by five figures associated with the group, including Julian Assange.

Amid strong evidence that a US grand jury has begun a wide-ranging trawl for details of what networks and accounts WikiLeaks used to communicate with Bradley Manning, the US serviceman accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of sensitive government cables, some of those named in the subpoena said they would fight disclosure.

“Today, the existence of a secret US government grand jury espionage investigation into WikiLeaks was confirmed for the first time as a subpoena was brought into the public domain,” WikiLeaks said in a statement.

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drbhelthi's avatar

By drbhelthi, January 23, 2011 at 11:06 am Link to this comment

Sally, Sally !

How right you are !

(spread the word across all nations!... governmental
misbehavior adds more devastation!)...

Yea, Verily !!!

Twitter officially subpoenaed, in order to support legal action, to preclude mistrial.
Although the names and other info was initially acquired unofficially and illegally, = Std. USGov procedure.

Report this

By gerard, January 8, 2011 at 10:04 pm Link to this comment

If our government is half-way smart, it will consider the WikiLeaked cables as an opportunity to clean up at least the outer fringes of so-called diplomacy—that is, rid it of secret withholding of information, of graft, of buying cooperation, and instead install more forthright and honest, fair-minded dealings made in broad daylight.  WikiLeaks offers government a golden opportunity to self-correct, and if not to say “thank you,” at least to not persecute the messengers.
  Using leaks has long been a valid and helpful reportorial method. That these leaks were massive and born of sophisticated technology does not make them substantially different from previous leaks. Gates himself said he regarded them as “moderately” significant.
  The hysteria increases if the government feels so weakened that it has to appease a hysterical, punishment-oriented right wing and some politicians whose “authority” is brought into question.
  The destructive way is to use the unconstitutional Patriot Act, and tons of money and legal tricks, to create some kind of ex post facto law that favors the continuation of deceit, and prosecute the messengers, thereby setting an antidemocratic precedent and increasing a period of rancid political wrangling.
  The smart way would be to recognize weaknesses, take advantage of the opportunity and restructure diplomatic procedures into a more open, direct and less mercenary arm of national policy.

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sallysense's avatar

By sallysense, January 8, 2011 at 9:38 pm Link to this comment

had posted the following the on the guardian/uk site earlier today…

...

(am an american… who shared the following on some u.s. sites… and would just like to share it here too… thank you)...

governmental misbehavior started its own bad image!...

and now governmental misbehavior keeps doing everything but cleaning up its own act!...

and government officials continue to use the ruse that anyone who doesn’t like governmental misbehavior also doesn’t like our government… but that’s not true!...

our government… and governmental misbehavior… are two different things!... (they’re not one-and-the-same!)...

every american who loves our country but hates governmental misbehavior is an american who truly cares about our u.s.a.!...

wikileaks is helping we-the-people see our government’s misbehavior!... and we need this for our country’s betterment!... (how can we make something better if we can’t see the parts of it that continue to make it worse?)...

this is our country folks!... see for yourselves!...
the majority are us and most everyone else!...
struggling with hardships under all those in charge!...
as governmental misbehavior runs rampant at large!...

the best of wishes’n'ways’n'todays for the sake of true betterment!... smile

...

(spread the word across all nations!... governmental misbehavior adds more devastation!)...

Report this

By Miko, January 8, 2011 at 4:09 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

“It is commendable that the U.S. government used the
appropriate mechanism for obtaining evidence”

Are you kidding?  When they’re on a witch hunt, it
doesn’t matter what means they use; their actions are
illegitimate no matter how they pursue them.

If the Left decides that being oppressed is a very-
slightly-less-bad way counts as a victory, we’re
doomed.

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