London: Wikileak's twitter account details have been subpoenaed by US officials, the secret-spilling site announced, adding that it suspected other American Internet Companies were also being asked to hand over information about it activities.
In an e-mail statement, wikileak's said that US investigators had gone to the San Francisco- based Twitter Inc. to demand the private messagers, contact information and other personal detail of founder Julian Assanger and three people associated with the secret-spilling website.
Wikileak's blasted the court order saying it amounted to harassment.
" If the Iranian goverment was to attemp to coercively obtain this information from journalists and activist of foreign nations, human right groups around the world would speak out," Assange said in a statement.
A copy of the court order, date Dec 14 and posted to salon.Com , said that the information sought was "relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation" and ordered Twitter not to disclose its existence to Assange or any of the other targeted.
The order was unsealed " thanks to legal action by Twitter," Wikileak's said its statement. Twitter has declined comment on the claim, saying only that its policy is to notify, its users, where possible of goverment requests for information.
US officials have been examining possible charges against wikileaks and its staff following a series of spectacular leaks which have embarrassed officials and tarnished Washington's image. The US state Department has said that the Website's latest leak- the disclosure of thousand of confidentail diplomatic cables-has harmed us diplomacy and could put human right activist and others at risk.
Wikileaks denies that charge, saying that Washington is acting out of embassment over the revelation contained in the cables- AP
SUNDAY STAR , 9 JANUARY 2011
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