Case 1:20-mc-00036-JEB-DAR Document 10 Filed 08/18/20 Page 11 of 29 government, its officials, and its agents—who have indisputably misused its platform—to the same extent it protects the privacy interests of U.S. citizens who comply with all of Facebook’s terms and conditions. Facebook’s Opp’n to Pet’rs Appl. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 6, ECF No. 8 (“Opp’n”). But, given the origins and history of the SCA, this would be a surprising proposition, which the plain language of the SCA refutes. That language, carefully considered, makes clear that Congress did not set out to protect the privacy interests of foreign governments in the content of their electronic communications; the SCA’s protections, on their face are limited to natural persons, domestic governmental officials, and are likewise limited to communications that are in compliance with the system’s requirements and thus remain stored on the system. In other words, the SCA, by its terms, does not protect the removed content of the Myanmar government, its officials, or its agents. a. The Myanmar government, its officials, and its agents are not “users” because they do not qualify as “persons or entities” as those terms are defined in the SCA. The SCA’s protections do not extend to the Myanmar government, its officials, or its agents because they are not included within the definition of “users.��10 To interpret any statutory provision, the starting point must be the language of the statute itself. Consumer Prod. Safety Comm’n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. 447 U.S. 102, 108 (1980). Ordinarily, the Court will give effect to the plain meaning of the words used by the legislature. Through the SCA, Congress prohibited an “electronic communications service” provider who provides services to “users” who are defined as “person or entity.”11 The term “person” is carefully defined under the statute as: “any employee, or agent of the United States or any State or political subdivision thereof, 10 11 18 U.S.C. § 2510 (13) (2020). 18 U.S.C. § 2702 (2020); 18 U.S.C. § 2510 (6), (13), (15) (2020). 5