The Marshall Project

How Social Media Giants Side With Prosecutors in Criminal Cases

Why can’t the defense have access, too?

You probably would not be surprised to learn that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media companies readily hand over their customers’ online content to cops and prosecutors who come armed with a court order or search warrant. But you may be surprised to learn that lawyers for those same social media giants say a federal law forbids them from sharing similar information with defense attorneys looking to help their clients.

The conflict is coming to a head in a California case that will test whether the law — the Stored Communications Act — conflicts with the constitutional rights of criminal defendants. The law, which was passed in 1986, bars companies from “knowingly” sharing information with anyone but the sender and

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Marshall Project

The Marshall Project8 min readPsychology
When Going To The Hospital Is Just As Bad As Jail
A new lawsuit claims Black Americans with mental illness are being forced into traumatic emergency room stays.
The Marshall Project7 min readMedical
Lax Masking, Short Quarantines, Ignored Symptoms: Inside a Prison Coronavirus Outbreak in ‘Disbeliever Country.’
The latest COVID-19 surge is happening behind bars, too. Here’s three accounts from an upstate New York prison hit by the pandemic.
The Marshall Project4 min readCrime & Violence
I Wasn’t a Superpredator. I Was a Kid Who Made a Terrible Decision.
At age 14, Derrick Hardaway took part in the murder of an 11-year-old. The media used the crime to build the myth of the superpredator—and stuck him with a label he struggles to shed.

Related Books & Audiobooks