An appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration cannot sweep in a vast number of confidential sources belonging to random journalists who have no connection to a Department of Justice investigation regarding top-secret military information leaks on LinkedIn.
Broad Data Request Rejected
The ruling followed a Department of Justice request demanding LinkedIn hand over 18 months of communications from targeted reporters who together published over 1,000 articles across various topics during that timeframe. The demand went beyond journalists linked to a controversial report from a news outlet which Donald Trump claimed exposed confidential military data abroad, keeping the media outlet unnamed to safeguard national security. Instead, the government cast a wide net by seeking extensive data on any journalists who shared a possible link to the reporters around the time the article was written.
LinkedIn argued that since most journalists maintain accounts and share contact details to facilitate source connections, permitting such government overreach would damage a vital networking platform used for confidential communications. The appeals panel also expressed concern that the Trump administration obtained a secrecy order preventing LinkedIn from notifying anyone about the expansive request for an entire year. Judges stated this delay left journalists unaware for far too long that their First Amendment rights had been compromised.
Narrowing the Scope
Writing the unanimous decision for a three-judge panel, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III turned down LinkedIn’s request to completely quash the order. Instead, he directed the US district court to significantly narrow the scope of the order to prevent a severe threat against press freedoms.
