“The government has issued a subpoena (the ‘Subpoena’) for ‘[a]ll customer or subscriber account information’ for the Twitter user @NunesAlt (the ‘Account’) from October 1, 2020 to present. Under the First Amendment, the government cannot compel Twitter to produce information related to the Account unless it ‘can show a compelling interest in the sought-after material and a sufficient nexus between the subject matter of the investigation and the information it seek[s].’ While Twitter does not have visibility into the purpose of the Subpoena, Twitter has serious concerns whether the government can meet this standard given the context in which it has received the Subpoena. It appears to Twitter that the Subpoena may be related to Congressman Devin Nunes’s repeated efforts to unmask individuals behind parody accounts critical of him.”

“His efforts to suppress critical speech are as well-publicized as they are unsuccessful. He recently sued Twitter, attempting to hold it liable for speech by the parody Twitter accounts @DevinCow, @DevinNunesMom, @fireDevinNunes, and @DevinGrapes, and asking the court in that case to order Twitter to disclose information identifying those accounts. Each of these accounts were engaged in anonymous political speech critical of Congressman Nunes… Given Congressman Nunes’s numerous attempts to unmask his anonymous critics on Twitter – described in detail herein – Twitter is concerned that this Subpoena is but another mechanism to attack its users’ First Amendment rights. Recent litigation also alleges that Congressman Nunes may be using the government to unmask his critics” – Clip of Twitter’s motion to quash grand jury subpoena and vacate nondisclosure order from March 2021, unsealed on Monday.