A battle is looming between Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) and the U.S government after the giant social network went to court seeking approval to publish data on how the NSA orders for user’s data. Bloomberg’s Emily Chang reports that Twitter is sidelined on the matter after Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and other companies agreed to follow government rules on the publication of classified information.
“Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) sued the U.S government over the right to publish more information about NSA surveillance orders. Twitter says the government restrictions on what can be published violate the company’s 1st amendment rights. Other tech companies including Google have agreed to follow the government rules,” said Mrs. Chang.
Bloomberg reports that Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) is seeking an approval to be allowed to publish precise numbers of government requests, as well as describe its exposure to spy networks in the country. Earlier in the year, the network was barred from publishing some information by the federal bureau of investigation, on orders that the information was classified.
The lawsuit by Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) comes in the wake of increased concerns by users on social networks of how the government might be spying on everything they post. The U.S government was forced to reach an agreement with Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) earlier in the year. The agreement was reached after the companies sued the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that is known to issue warrants for the collection of information in secrecy.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) opted not to participate in the earlier lawsuit and seems to be paying the price for deciding to go alone on the same. The five companies are believed to have reached an agreement whereby they are allowed to disclose certain information in bands of 1,000 on the number of accounts targeted by various agencies.
Jat Capital Management run by, John Thaler held 7.34 million shares worth $300.30 million of Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) at the end of the second quarter of 2014.
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