SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Twitter Hands Over Occupy Tweets to New York Judge
Sep 14, 2012
Twitter was forced to hand over Occupy protester tweets to a New York criminal judge on Friday, following an ongoing battle between prosecutors and the social media site over the privacy of the data.
The tweets in question were posted by Occupy protestor Malcolm Harris, one of many arrested during a mass protest on the Brooklyn Bridge in October 2011. Harris has been on trial following charges from the protest.
Harris argues that police intentionally led protesters onto the bridge's roadway and proceeded to arrest him for obstructing traffic. Manhattan district attorney's office believe they can use the tweets as evidence that Harris intentionally broke the law.
A New York Judge ruled on Tuesday that Twitter must produce Harris' Tweets by today or face fines. The company's lawyers made one final plea in court Friday, but the judge refused.
Twitter had originally argued that releasing Harris' posts would violate fourth amendment privacy rights.
The ruling is a substantial attack on constitutional rights, according to the ACLU, as the information is being collected without a previously required search warrant, which requires probable cause.
Harris' lawyer, Martin Stolar, said the decision by Twitter to hand over the messages today "certainly doesn't help out the case."
"I assume Twitter made a business decision, that they did not want to go into contempt. I would think they would be better off making a business decision to stick up for the fundamental privacy rights of their customers," he stated.
Stolar said Friday he would again appeal the use of the tweets in the case.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Twitter was forced to hand over Occupy protester tweets to a New York criminal judge on Friday, following an ongoing battle between prosecutors and the social media site over the privacy of the data.
The tweets in question were posted by Occupy protestor Malcolm Harris, one of many arrested during a mass protest on the Brooklyn Bridge in October 2011. Harris has been on trial following charges from the protest.
Harris argues that police intentionally led protesters onto the bridge's roadway and proceeded to arrest him for obstructing traffic. Manhattan district attorney's office believe they can use the tweets as evidence that Harris intentionally broke the law.
A New York Judge ruled on Tuesday that Twitter must produce Harris' Tweets by today or face fines. The company's lawyers made one final plea in court Friday, but the judge refused.
Twitter had originally argued that releasing Harris' posts would violate fourth amendment privacy rights.
The ruling is a substantial attack on constitutional rights, according to the ACLU, as the information is being collected without a previously required search warrant, which requires probable cause.
Harris' lawyer, Martin Stolar, said the decision by Twitter to hand over the messages today "certainly doesn't help out the case."
"I assume Twitter made a business decision, that they did not want to go into contempt. I would think they would be better off making a business decision to stick up for the fundamental privacy rights of their customers," he stated.
Stolar said Friday he would again appeal the use of the tweets in the case.
Twitter was forced to hand over Occupy protester tweets to a New York criminal judge on Friday, following an ongoing battle between prosecutors and the social media site over the privacy of the data.
The tweets in question were posted by Occupy protestor Malcolm Harris, one of many arrested during a mass protest on the Brooklyn Bridge in October 2011. Harris has been on trial following charges from the protest.
Harris argues that police intentionally led protesters onto the bridge's roadway and proceeded to arrest him for obstructing traffic. Manhattan district attorney's office believe they can use the tweets as evidence that Harris intentionally broke the law.
A New York Judge ruled on Tuesday that Twitter must produce Harris' Tweets by today or face fines. The company's lawyers made one final plea in court Friday, but the judge refused.
Twitter had originally argued that releasing Harris' posts would violate fourth amendment privacy rights.
The ruling is a substantial attack on constitutional rights, according to the ACLU, as the information is being collected without a previously required search warrant, which requires probable cause.
Harris' lawyer, Martin Stolar, said the decision by Twitter to hand over the messages today "certainly doesn't help out the case."
"I assume Twitter made a business decision, that they did not want to go into contempt. I would think they would be better off making a business decision to stick up for the fundamental privacy rights of their customers," he stated.
Stolar said Friday he would again appeal the use of the tweets in the case.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy