Twitter appeals order to reveal protester's information

Twitter filed an appeal with the New York State Supreme Court on Monday, looking to overturn a lower court's order to reveal the personal information of one of its users.

New York City prosecutors are demanding Twitter's data on Malcolm Harris, who was arrested for disorderly conduct during an Occupy Wall Street protest. The prosecutors asked Twitter for Harris's email address and all of his tweets in a three-month period.

Twitter argued that police would need a search warrant to access the communications and that Harris has the legal standing to challenge the request on his own.  

A lower court denied Twitter's motion in June and ordered the company to handover the information.

The judge, noting that Harris's tweets were public, wrote, "There can be no reasonable expectation of privacy in a tweet sent around the world." 

He also argued that all third-parties have the burden of deciding if subpoenas are legitimate and that Twitter shouldn't receive a special exception. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a brief supporting Twitter's appeal.

“Under the First and Fourth Amendments, we have the right to speak freely on the Internet, safe in the knowledge that the government can’t get information about our speech without a warrant and without satisfying First Amendment scrutiny," Aden Fine, an ACLU attorney, wrote in a blog post. "We’re hopeful that Twitter’s appeal will overturn the criminal court’s dangerous decision, and reaffirm that we retain our constitutional rights to speech and privacy online, as well as offline.” 

A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office declined to comment.

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