Overview
- A unanimous three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that a district court’s order forcing LinkedIn to turn over reporters’ records was substantially overbroad and must be narrowed.
- The Justice Department had sought 18 months of LinkedIn metadata for six journalists, covering roughly 1,900 interactions that would identify who the reporters contacted but not the content of messages.
- The court warned the order would unmask a large number of confidential sources who had no clear connection to the classified-leak probe that followed publication of a story about a top-secret U.S. military operation.
- The panel declined to quash the orders entirely and said the government may pursue discovery in the leak investigation, but the district court must craft more limited requests and reassess a gag order that stopped LinkedIn from notifying reporters.
- Press-advocacy groups hailed the decision as an important precedent for source protection, and the ruling highlights how platform metadata can reveal reporters’ networks and shape future fights over secrecy, notice and tailored subpoenas.