The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is trying to stop a warrant issued to police to search a private Facebook group protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. It was served to Facebook, and they want to collect personal data on the group members, which includes their personal opinions and political views.
La Rond Baker, staff attorney for the ACLU of Washington, said:
“The warrant at issue here is deeply problematic and runs afoul of constitutional protections. Political speech and the freedom to engage in political activity without being subjected to undue government scrutiny are at the heart of the First Amendment. Further, the Fourth Amendment prohibits the government from performing broad fishing expeditions into private affairs. And seizing information from Facebook accounts simply because they are associated with protests of the government violates these core constitutional principles.”
The Whatcom County Sherrif’s Department is obtaining information on people who interacted with the group during a certain 12-day period. This includes a protest of President Donald Trump’s administration. The Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect privacy and protect people from illegal searches.
The First Amendment protects political opinions in the Freedom of Speech clause, so these kinds of broad search warrants could potentially infringe on protected political opinions. Law enforcement should protect the freedom of speech when executing these types of orders. Carrying out this warrant could set a dangerous precedent. It could make it okay to find anyone’s opinions and somehow get them in trouble for it.
Just How Private Is Facebook?
First, once you put information on the internet, it can be found in one way or another. Often, people use the information for illegal purposes.
The government should not be allowed to scrutinize your protected free speech on the internet or on any medium, really. This information could give away personal opinions and even the users’ locations if they are trying to stay anonymous.
Brett Max Kaufman, an attorney with the ACLU’s Center for Democracy, said:
“Government requests for information protected by the First Amendment must meet a high bar in order to ensure that political speech and advocacy are not chilled. The Constitution gives wide berth to that kind of civic participation, and law enforcement must respect that space in carrying out its activities.”
This kind of privacy invasion could endanger the rights of anyone on Facebook. It is a slippery slope.
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