Case 1:20-mc-00036-JEB-ZMF Document 22 Filed 09/22/21 Page 18 of 32
see HRIA 12–14. Moreover, by banning coordinated inauthentic behavior from Facebook nearly
three years ago, Facebook has already deterred users with such content from entering its platform.
See
Coordinated
Inauthentic
Behavior,
Facebook
https://about.fb.com/news/tag/coordinated-inauthentic-behavior/.
(Dec.
Second,
6,
the
2018),
harm
of
“unauthorized users [] obtain[ing] access to communications to which they are not a party,” S.
Rep. No. 99-541, at 5 (1986), is mitigated where the content is limited to unauthorized inauthentic
accounts, as opposed to genuine communications from real users. Additionally, the Court and
Facebook still serve as gatekeepers on releasing records to unauthorized users. Third, concerns
about disclosure damaging the right to privacy, see id., is a boogeyman that does not haunt here.
Coordinated inauthentic behavior—i.e., fake accounts that violated the terms of service—had no
privacy rights from Facebook. And the right to privacy in this case must be balanced against the
need to uncover the cause of the Rohingya genocide.
d.
Privacy Concerns
Finally, Facebook advances a policy argument, opining that this Court’s holding will “have
sweeping privacy implications—every time a service provider deactivates a user’s account for any
reason, the contents of the user’s communications would become available for disclosure to
anyone, including the U.S. government.” 11 Resp’t’s Surreply at 7. Facebook taking up the mantle
of privacy rights is rich with irony. News sites have entire sections dedicated to Facebook’s sordid
history
of
privacy
scandals.
See,
e.g.,
11
Facebook
Privacy
Scandal,
AP
News,
Facebook’s argument that this holding is a boon to law enforcement misses the mark. Law
enforcement already accesses content regularly via search warrants. The Fourth Amendment
requirement for a search warrant is untouched by this Court’s reading of the SCA. The Fourth
Amendment’s privacy protections stand apart from the SCA. See United States v. Warshak, 631
F.3d 266 (6th Cir. 2010). Indeed, the Fourth Amendment broadly protects digital media
irrespective of SCA coverage. See, e.g., Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014).
18