Twitter discloses two NSLs after lifting of FBI gag order; next hearing for its lawsuit against US government over disclosure of NSLs is February 14
Today, we're able to speak openly about two national security requests for the first time, specifically two national security letters (NSLs).
Context & Ripple Effects
Twitter's disclosure of two national security letters is a milestone in a fight it has been running since filing suit against the US government over NSL gag orders — a case that drew an amicus brief from an unnamed Internet firm and telecom firm represented by EFF back in 2015. The same period produced a [[a:837187|court ruling exposing for the first time how much data the FBI collects via NSLs without a warrant]], including browsing, shopping, and location history.
The disclosure also lands amid a wave of corporate pushback: days earlier, [[a:915790|Cloudflare disclosed a 2013 NSL and joined CREDO and EFF in challenging the constitutionality of the gag orders]]. With the next hearing set for February 14, Twitter becomes the latest company to convert a lifted gag order into public evidence of what these requests look like.
First-order effects
- Twitter can now publish the substance of two NSLs it previously could not acknowledge, giving its legal team concrete exhibits for the February 14 hearing against the US government.
Second-order effects
- Cloudflare, CREDO, and EFF gain a fresh precedent of a gag order being lifted under pressure, strengthening the constitutional challenge Cloudflare just joined; other firms holding sealed NSLs face pressure to seek similar disclosures.
Third-order effects
- If courts keep forcing selective declassification — as the later [[a:920665|appeals-court decision upholding gag orders while many tech firms including Microsoft and Twitter challenge their legality]] shows remains contested — the FBI may face structural limits on indefinite secrecy, a question EFF pursued further by winning records on when gag orders get lifted via a FOIA lawsuit in San Francisco federal court.
The trend: Tech companies are shifting from quietly complying with national security letters to litigating and publishing them, turning each lifted gag order into ammunition for a broader constitutional challenge to FBI secrecy practices.