Lawsuit Seeks Details Of Trump Admin. Surveillance Of Social Media - US Advocacy Group

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) Seven Federal government agencies are being targeted in a lawsuit that seeks to uncover details of social media monitoring of US immigrants and visa applicants, especially those subject to President Donald Trump's extreme vetting program, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced in a press release on Thursday.

"The lawsuit was filed in the federal district court for the Northern District of California against the Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, ICE, US Customs and Border Protection, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and State Department," the release stated.

The ACLU lawsuit seeks the release of each agency's guidelines and policies governing the use of social media surveillance, communications with private businesses or social media platforms, and materials related to purchasing or building a social media monitoring tools, among other records.

The lawsuit was filed, in part, on behalf of immigrants and visa applicants subject to an "extreme vetting" program initiated by Trump, the release said. The program reportedly gives extra scrutiny to migrants from mostly Muslim countries where terrorists are active.

"The public has a right to know how the federal government monitors social media users and speech, whether agencies are retaining social media content, and whether the government is using surveillance products to label activists and people of color as threats to public safety based on their First Amendment-protected conduct," ACLU National Security Project senior staff attorney Hugh Handeyside said in the release.

The lawsuit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after all seven agencies failed to produce records in response to a FOIA request filed last year, the ACLU said.