Earlier this year, Elon Musk's Twitter, now known as X, incurred a $350,000 fine for its delayed compliance with a search warrant related to former US President Donald Trump's account on the platform. Recently unsealed court documents, reported by The Verge, divulged this information.
The warrant was issued during a Department of Justice special investigation spearheaded by special counsel Jack Smith in January. The investigation sought insights into Trump's alleged interference with the orderly transition of power after the 2020 election. The search warrant was targeted at Trump's Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump.
According to the unsealed documents, X raised objections on February 1, citing that the accompanying nondisclosure order violated the First Amendment's rights to freedom of religion, expression, assembly, and petition. This objection was submitted four days after the court-imposed deadline, requesting the district court to validate the legality of the nondisclosure order before complying.
On February 2, X requested the removal of the nondisclosure order, asserting that it infringed upon the company's First Amendment rights to communicate with its subscriber, Donald Trump. Following a hearing on February 7, the court held X in contempt but provided an opportunity for the company to rectify the situation by submitting the requested materials by 5 p.m. that day.
However, X failed to meet this deadline, sending some records that were deemed incomplete. Eventually, on February 9, the company provided all the requested records to the government. Due to the missed deadline, X was fined $350,000.
It's worth noting that Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account on the platform in January 2021. Nonetheless, after Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform in November, he reinstated Trump's account.
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In summary, Elon Musk's Twitter, now referred to as X, has been fined $350,000 for its delayed compliance with a search warrant involving former President Donald Trump's Twitter account. The court documents, recently made public, revealed the company's objections to the warrant and its subsequent contempt of court due to non-compliance.
Inputs from IANS
