Case 1:20-mc-00036-JEB-ZMF Document 31 Filed 12/03/21 Page 1 of 14
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA,
Petitioner,
v.
Miscellaneous Action No. 20-36 (JEB)
FACEBOOK, INC.,
Respondent.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Republic of The Gambia is currently prosecuting in the International Court of Justice a
case of genocide against Myanmar for its treatment of the Rohingya people. So how does this
concern U.S. courts? The Gambia believes that critical evidence of the guilt of Myanmar
officials lies in their posts and messages on Facebook, many of which the company took down in
2018 for contributing to the ethnic violence. Hoping to obtain the deleted material from these
accounts to use in its prosecution of Myanmar, The Gambia filed an application under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1782 to take discovery from Facebook. While the company has agreed to turn over some of
the desired records, it maintains that the Stored Communications Act prevents it from disclosing
private accounts and associated content. Agreeing with Facebook, the Court will vacate the
Magistrate Judge Order’s requirement that it release the private communications.
I.
Background
A. Factual Background
This case stems from an ongoing proceeding before the ICJ in which The Gambia seeks
to hold Myanmar accountable for genocide against the Rohingya people, an ethnic and religious
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