Tech Firms Blocked From Seeing DOJ Arguments Against Them

Google, Facebook, Microsoft and others are suing the government, claiming a First Amendment right to reveal details about the number of data requests they get from the National Security Agency, but when the Justice Department submitted filings in the case, the plaintiffs received heavily redacted versions. The government refused to provide the companies with its uncensored arguments, filing an ex parte brief to keep details of its case under wraps. “Allowing the government to file an ex parte brief in this case will cripple the providers’ ability to reply to the government’s arguments and is likely to result in a disposition of the providers’ First Amendment claims based on information that the providers will never see,” the plaintiffs wrote to the court.