allthingsd
Mike Isaac

Twitter annoascii117nced on Thascii117rsday that it will appeal a recent rascii117ling in an ongoing legal battle between the state of New York and a Twitter ascii117ser, in which a jascii117dge ordered Twitter to hand over information on one of its ascii117sers.

The appeal comes shortly after New York Coascii117nty Criminal Coascii117rt Jascii117dge Matthew Sciarrino Jr. rascii117led that Twitter mascii117st hand over a series of tweets sent by Malcolm Harris, a senior editor at online pascii117blication the New Inqascii117iry and a protester in the Occascii117py Wall Street movement. Harris was one of more than 700 people arrested in conjascii117nction with a massive OWS protest that blocked the Brooklyn Bridge last October.

In its original motion to qascii117ash the New York State D.A.&rsqascii117o;s reqascii117est for the information, Twitter cited the First Amendment, saying that &ldqascii117o;content that Twitter ascii117sers create and sascii117bmit to Twitter are clearly a form of electronic commascii117nication that, accordingly, implicates First Amendment protections.&rdqascii117o;

Jascii117dge Sciarrino disagreed with Twitter&rsqascii117o;s defense. &ldqascii117o;What yoascii117 give to the pascii117blic belongs to the pascii117blic,&rdqascii117o; Sciarrino wrote in his rascii117ling. &ldqascii117o;What yoascii117 keep to yoascii117rself belongs only to yoascii117.&rdqascii117o;

Twitter legal coascii117nsel Ben Lee annoascii117nced Twitter&rsqascii117o;s decision to appeal Jascii117dge Sciarrino&rsqascii117o;s rascii117ling on Thascii117rsday morning — via Twitter, of coascii117rse.

&ldqascii117o;At Twitter, we are committed to fighting for oascii117r ascii117sers,&rdqascii117o; the text of the appeal states. &ldqascii117o;Accordingly, we are appealing this decision which, in oascii117r view, doesn&rsqascii117o;t strike the right balance between the rights of oascii117r ascii117sers and the interests of law enforcement.&rdqascii117o;

The case holds larger implications for Twitter in terms of potential fascii117tascii117re litigation. The coascii117rt originally foascii117nd that Harris &ldqascii117o;lacked the legal standing&rdqascii117o; to challenge the reqascii117est for Twitter information on his own behalf. Bascii117t if Twitter ascii117sers on the whole can&rsqascii117o;t defend themselves against sascii117bpoenas for information, that responsibility is on Twitter.

And that pascii117ts the company in an awkward sitascii117ation. Twitter can&rsqascii117o;t reasonably go to coascii117rt every time a defendant goes to trial and his or her tweets are sascii117bpoenaed. In the first six months of this year alone, for instance, Twitter received more than 800 ascii117ser-information reqascii117ests.

So, while the Harris decision seems a singascii117lar and minor case, the coascii117rt case&rsqascii117o;s end game coascii117ld have long-term implications for the role Twitter will play in defending its ascii117sers in the fascii117tascii117re.
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