Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Elon Musk’s X Challenge on Ban Against Disclosing Surveillance Requests by Federal Authorities

 

The United States Supreme Court has denied a high-profile appeal by Elon Musk’s X Corporation regarding the disclosure of government requests for user information.

In 2014, Twitter initiated a lawsuit following the FBI’s prohibition on publishing a report that would reveal the frequency of government requests for user information related to national security investigations, according to Daily Caller.

The SCOTUS ruling upholds the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision, asserting that free speech limitations regarding surveillance requests for national security do not necessitate specific procedural mandates for judicial review.

In March, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its conclusion, “The Government’s prevention of Twitter from publishing classified, redacted information satisfies strict scrutiny, and Freedman’s procedural protections do not apply in this case. Due process also does not demand that Twitter’s counsel obtained access to classified information. I therefore agree with the majority to affirm the district court.” 

In September, X filed a petition to the Supreme Court to hear the case.

“If this Court does not intervene, different standards will apply in different circuits when entities like Twitter want to disclose how and how often the Government has demanded information from them,” the petition reads. “History demonstrates that the surveillance of electronic communications is both a fertile ground for government abuse and a lightning-rod political topic of intense concern to the public.”

The ruling is a significant blow to privacy advocates and tech companies pushing for more transparency regarding government surveillance.

Elon Musk, the CEO of X, took to Twitter immediately after the decision, expressing his disappointment.

“Disappointing that the Supreme Court declined to hear this matter,” Musk wrote in response to a tweet.

Disappointing that the Supreme Court declined to hear this matter

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2024

The appeal was part of a broader initiative by X to increase transparency and build public trust after several high-profile incidents eroded confidence in how user data is managed.

In August, Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained a secret search warrant for Trump’s Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump according to newly unsealed court filings.

X, formerly known as Twitter, was fined $350,000 because it delayed producing the subpoenaed records.

The search warrant was so secret that Trump didn’t even know Jack Smith issued a subpoena for the records.

Biden’s corrupt Justice Department obtained a nondisclosure order that prohibited X from informing Trump about Jack Smith’s subpoena.

Over the course of the months-long legal battle, X argued that the nondisclosure order violated the First Amendment and Stored Communications Act.

The Justice Department argued Trump would put the so-called ongoing investigation in jeopardy.

According to CNN, the DC Circuit Court Appeals said the court found that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Trump would ‘jeopardize the ongoing investigation’ if he knew about the search warrant.

“The district court, according to the DC Circuit’s opinion, “found that there were ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that disclosing the warrant to former President Trump ‘would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation’ by giving him “an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates.”” CNN reported.

Jack Smith admitted to Judge Howell he included inaccurate information when he suggested Trump would become a flight risk if he learned about the secret gag order.

Jack Smith also sought Trump’s private messages and ‘draft tweets’ which are tweets that are created and then deleted.

X pushed back and argued Trump’s private messages were covered under executive privilege.

X appealed Judge Howell’s ruling but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately sided with Judge Beryl Howell.

Trump lashed out at Jack Smith and Joe Biden in a Truth Social post.

“Just found out that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ secretly attacked my Twitter account, making it a point not to let me know about this major “hit” on my civil rights. My Political Opponent is going CRAZY trying to infringe on my Campaign for President. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Does the First Amendment still exist? Did Deranged Jack Smith tell the Unselects to DESTROY & DELETE all evidence? These are DARK DAYS IN AMERICA!” Trump wrote.