More people use and rely on social media than ever before.
Every day, billions log onto their preferred platforms to check the weather, check the news, or touch base with family and friends.
And Donald Trump just let out a sigh of relief as Elon Musk makes this move.
Elon Musk’s latest pursuit could change how social media platforms operate
Billions of people use popular social media platforms like X and Meta every day.
This means that social media is rife with valuable user data, which can show authorities an awful lot about your daily movements, purchases, and opinions.
Many social media users do not even think twice about where or who stores this data.
Tech experts warn about the value and power of such user data, especially in the political world.
Last year, for example, Special Counsel Jack Smith forced X to divulge private communications from Donald Trump’s X account.
Some of these communications and details included direct messages, location data, and his drafts leading up to the January 6 protests.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and his social media team claim to have never received any warning or indication that his private data would be released to federal investigators.
Trump wasn’t notified because last year Jack Smith slapped X with a non-disclosure order that gagged X and prevented the company from notifying Trump that his records had been seized.
In response, X owner Elon Musk just petitioned the United States Supreme Court to determine whether, or under what circumstances a company may be forced to turn over information on its users and if it can be gagged from alerting those users that they’re being investigated.
Elon Musk and X have fought Jack Smith’s search warrant from the beginning, filing a motion to block the warrant last year with U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell.
Judge Howell refused to block this unprecedented search warrant, and even held the company in contempt, slapping X with exorbitant fines.
X then appealed their case to the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court’s ruling.
Elon Musk and officials at X have now taken their case to the United States Supreme Court, hoping to supersede these previous rulings and asking Justices to reverse them on the grounds that the company could not be required to comply, at the very least until the constitutionality of the gag order is adjudicated.
Such actions, Musk correctly suggests, are not consistent with the First Amendment and protecting an individual’s rights under it.
If the United States Supreme Court decides to weigh in on this issue, it could establish a powerful precedent regarding the federal government’s power to coerce social media platforms to share private and confidential user data, especially without the user ever knowing.
Social media users should think twice before spilling their hearts out on social media platforms
Many Americans use social media on a daily basis, with some divulging every part of their life online.
Some people, known as influencers, have even made a living doing just that.
However, this ongoing situation regarding Donald Trump shows that the federal government and other powerful entities can access your data without you knowing.
In the case of Donald Trump, federal investigators seized records of drafts, locations, and private messages of a sitting United States president.
If investigators can do something like this with the details of somebody serving as President, many fear that anybody could come under attack from these sorts of warrants.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
