US court orders Twitter to hand over WikiLeaks documents
By DPA, IANSSaturday, January 8, 2011
WASHINGTON - A court in the US has ordered information network Twitter to hand over documents connected to WikiLeaks to the US Justice Department, CNN reported Saturday.
The documents relate to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and US Army private Bradley Manning, who is under arrest on suspicion of leaking information to the whistleblowing website, the report said.
The order, issued by a district court in the US state of Virginia, sought “subscriber names, user names, screen names, mailing addresses, residential addresses”, CNN said.
WikiLeaks has published a slew of confidential US diplomatic documents since November.
The US government has sharply criticised WikiLeaks for publishing the illegally obtained material and is considering criminal action against the website or Assange.
Among the initial revelations are allegations that Saudi King Abdullah urged the US to attack Iran to halt its nuclear programme.
The US State Department said it has relocated a “handful” of individuals who could have been exposed to retribution or other dangers because of the WikiLeaks release of the secret cables.
