Twitter sues FBI and DOJ to declassify transparency reports

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Twitter, the San Francisco-based pillar of social media, news-gathering and general contemporary human interaction, is suing the FBI and the Department of Justice to declassify transparency reports, which prevent the company from responding to user concerns about privacy.

Under the current law, Twitter, like competitors Facebook and LinkedIn, is legally not allowed to respond to requests about information regarding government inquiries into user activities -- even if there have not been any. It's a restriction that "forces Twitter either to engage in speech that has been preapproved by government officials or else to refrain from speaking altogether."

"These restrictions constitute an unconstitutional prior restraint and content-based restriction on, and government viewpoint discrimination against, Twitter's right to speak about information of national and global public concern," the complaint alleges.

"It's our belief that we are entitled under the First Amendment to respond to our users' concerns and to the statements of U.S. government officials by providing information about the scope of U.S. government surveillance — including what types of legal process have not been received," reiterated Twitter vice president Ben Lee.

"We should be free to do this in a meaningful way, rather than in broad, inexact ranges."

The FBI and DOJ have yet to respond publicly to the lawsuit.