Case 1:20-mc-00036-JEB-DAR Document 10 Filed 08/18/20 Page 8 of 29
industry practice of publicly disclosing content where they have determined the platform was
manipulated by bad actors.4 But Facebook chooses not to meet that standard.
Facebook also identifies purported procedural hurdles to cooperation with The Gambia’s
investigation. But these do not apply either. Contrary to Facebook’s view, a 28 U.S.C. § 1782
action is the proper mechanism for obtaining discovery that is relevant to proceedings taking
place before the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) against Myanmar. Mechanisms that
Facebook suggests, such as the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (“CLOUD Act”)
and mutual legal assistance treaties (“MLATs”), are arguably irrelevant (because the SCA does
not apply to foreign governments or its officials who misuse an electronic communication
service) and certainly not the exclusive remedies in these circumstances, as they are most often
used in the context of domestic criminal investigations.5 Here, The Gambia is not prosecuting a
domestic issue, instead it is holding Myanmar, a third-party sovereign, accountable under the
1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (“Genocide
Convention”). Even if the SCA applied, and The Gambia pursued CLOUD Act mechanisms, the
CLOUD Act does not require U.S. companies to comply with requests for information and any
compliance by Facebook under this provision would be strictly voluntary.6 Indeed, civil society
4
See, e.g., Twitter Safety, Disclosing networks of state-linked information operation we’ve removed,
Twitter (June 12, 2020), https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/information-operationsjune-2020.html; Twitter Safety, Information operations on Twitter: principles, process and disclosure,
Twitter (June 13, 2019), https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/information-ops-ontwitter.html; Twitter Safety, Disclosing new data to our archive of information operations, Twitter (Sept.
20, 2019), https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/info-ops-disclosure-data-september2019.html.
5
See, e.g., Treaties, Agreements, and Asset Sharing, U.S. Department of State, https://20092017.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2014/vol2/222469.htm (“Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) allow
generally for the exchange of evidence and information in criminal and related matters.”).
6
U.S. DEPT. OF JUSTICE, PROMOTING PUBLIC SAFETY, PRIVACY AND THE RULE OF LAW AROUND THE
WORLD: THE PURPOSE AND IMPACT OF THE CLOUD ACT 4 (2019), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pressrelease/file/1153446/download. (“CLOUD Act agreements, however, do not impose any new obligation
2