US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on WikiLeaks


by Sunny Hundal    
8:50 pm - January 7th 2011

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The US government’s demands in its witchhunt against WikiLeaks are getting more absurd.

Tonight, an Icelandic MP posted these two messages to her account:

First she posted: (via @tenpercent)

just got this: Twitter has received legal process requesting information regarding your Twitter account in (relation to wikileaks)

and then this:

usa government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. do they realize i am a member of parliament in iceland?

How utterly bizarre and draconian.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir says about herself: “Member of Parliament for the Movement in Iceland – Tibet – IMMI – Saving Iceland – Collateral Murder – Poet – Activist”

She told others she was going to speak to a lawyer.

Update: On her website she says that before joining the Icelandic Parliament in April 2009 she worked as a writer, artist, activist, web developer, designer.

She has added tonight:

I have nothing to hide and have done nothing wrong – i have no intention to hand my information over willingly to DoJ.

She told another Twitter she suspects the US Dept of Justice wants her tweets “because of my volunteer work and support for wikileaks”.

Update 2: The Guardian are also reporting on this now:

Jonsdottir told the Guardian she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. “The justice department has gone completely over the top,” she said. She added the US authorities had requested personal information from Twitter as well as her private messages and that she was now assessing her legal position.
…
Jonsdottir was involved in WikiLeaks’ release last year of a video which showed a US military helicopter gunning down two Reuters reporters in Iraq. US authorities believe the video was leaked by Private Bradley Manning. Adrian Lamo, the hacker who reported Manning to the authorities, indicated that Manning had first contacted WikiLeaks sometime in late November 2009 – a time period covered by the government’s request for Jonsdottir’s tweet history.

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About the author
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Reader comments


1. tris

There’s only a two word answer for the USA, and the second word is OFF

2. Art Brennan

The Department of Justice is becoming a joke, but we Americans cannot afford to laugh.

3. Dick the Prick

Surely to buggery they’re recorded and virtually public domain anyway? Hmmm…seems odd.

4. shamit

this is the same lady who basically said Assange must quit Wikileaks because he is a megalomaniac and who is destroying the credibility and work of Wikileaks. Smart woman -

5. Charles, Marxed

@4

Yes, it’s impossible to support Wikileaks without giving 100% support no matter what the circumstances to Julian Assange.

6. An Duine Gruamach

This is an outrage. Hopefully the Icelanders tell the DoJ to farðu í rassgat.

7. Ned Ludd

@3: The DOJ wants more than tweets. From Glenn Greenwald:

The information demanded by the DOJ is sweeping in scope. It includes all mailing addresses and billing information known for the user, all connection records and session times, all IP addresses used to access Twitter, all known email accounts, as well as the “means and source of payment,” including banking records and credit cards. It seeks all of that information for the period beginning November 1, 2009, through the present. A copy of the Order served on Twitter, obtained exclusively by Salon, is here.

Once the DOJ has a list of IP addresses, they can use subpoenas and other methods to find out where someone has been and who they have visited. They can build a profile of a person, look for out-of-the-ordinary trips that might reveal meetings and rendezvous points, and discover new targets for surveillance.

8. Dick the Prick

@7 – ooh, that sounds quite rude.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  2. Peter

    RT @LibCon US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ < Barely believable. Who does US think it is?

  3. Richard Maddrell

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  4. Rooftop Jaxx

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  5. temaris

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  6. MaidstoneCoR

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  7. Therese

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  8. Therese

    US demands Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/MQCtGTC via @libcon

  9. Lee Hyde

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  10. Peter Wong

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  11. wikileaks reports

    #wikileaks US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks …: just got this: Twitter has receive… http://bit.ly/geHz8v

  12. Arturo R Montesinos

    U.S. buffoons going after Iceland MP? http://alturl.com/y9fb4 1 yr ago they were caught using Spanish MP for Bin Laden mugshot. #wikileaks

  13. Iain Anderson

    Liberal Conspiracy
    US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  14. Simon Sayer

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  15. Therese

    RT @libcon: US demands Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  16. Therese

    US demands Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/MQCtGTC via @libcon

  17. Matthew Deaves

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  18. bg

    RT @arturormk: U.S. buffoons going after Iceland MP? http://alturl.com/y9fb4 1 yr ago they were caught using Spanish MP for Bin Laden m …

  19. Rory Beckwith @Now

    US demands Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/esEQoK & the USA thinks the world laughing we are damn staright

  20. Sara

    US demands Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/yg9tjAk via @libcon

  21. Therese

    RT @arturormk: U.S. buffoons going after Iceland MP? http://alturl.com/y9fb4 1 yr ago they were caught using Spanish MP for Bin Laden m …

  22. kate

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  23. aberplym

    Oo..er ..; there must be awful power in 140 characters http://tinyurl.com/2b6hjrd my answer … reverse that V sign.

  24. Therese

    RT @cablegates: US demands Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/yg9tjAk via @libcon

  25. sunny hundal

    US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  26. Nicholas Stewart

    RT @sunny_hundal: US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  27. annastein

    RT @sunny_hundal: US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  28. Zahir Ahmed

    RT @sunny_hundal: US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  29. William J. C. Brown

    RT @sunny_hundal: US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  30. James Webley

    RT @sunny_hundal: US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  31. sunny hundal

    The Icelandic MP being targeted by US govt is here: @birgittaj // our story here http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  32. Lorraine Janectic

    RT @sunny_hundal: The Icelandic MP being targeted by US govt is here: @birgittaj // our story here http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  33. Phil Randal

    RT @sunny_hundal: The Icelandic MP being targeted by US govt is here: @birgittaj // our story here http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  34. Steve

    RT @sunny_hundal: The Icelandic MP being targeted by US govt is here: @birgittaj // our story here http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  35. Lee Hyde

    RT @sunny_hundal: The Icelandic MP being targeted by US govt is here: @birgittaj // our story here http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  36. Robin Dalton

    Is that legal RT @sunny_hundal US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  37. mrjmrichardson

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  38. sunny hundal

    @Glinner might be worth keeping an eye on this developing story http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  39. Cheryl Baker

    RT @sunny_hundal: The Icelandic MP being targeted by US govt is here: @birgittaj // our story here http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  40. Anders Gulden Olstad

    RT @sunny_hundal: US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  41. Jack

    Oh dear: RT @sunny_hundal: US govt demands backlog of all Tweets from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ (via @tenpercent)

  42. US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy | The Daily Conservative

    [...] more here: US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy Share and [...]

  43. Allan Siegel

    US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/3hg3pCN

  44. Chris Keegan

    The wikileaks affair is getting ridiculous. Us gov demands tweets from an icelandic mp? http://bit.ly/epvnzM

  45. Spir.Sotiropoulou

    US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on WikiLeaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/QIpnNAm via @libcon

  46. tutenaton

    RT @libcon: US Govt demands Twitter info from Icelandic MP over WikiLeaks http://bit.ly/etgtzJ

  47. Wordpress Link Digest 02/06/2011 | Meandering Vaguely Around Timnah

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  48. WikiLeaks Updates

    US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on #Wikileaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://j.mp/jGDli3 #blog

  49. Pi-Qui Baltink

    RT @wikicables: US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on #Wikileaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://j.mp/jGDli3 #blog

  50. reagrupamentpv

    RT @wikicables: US demands Icelandic MP Tweets on #Wikileaks | Liberal Conspiracy http://j.mp/jGDli3 #blog





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