Tech

Trump admin loses fight to spy on random journalists’ LinkedIn DMs

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 11/11/2026, 19:58:24 UTC.

Briefings

An appeals court ruled that the Trump administration's attempt to spy on random journalists via LinkedIn DMs failed because the government could not access a vast number of confidential sources. The Department of Justice requested 18 months of LinkedIn communications from over 1,000 journalists who had no direct connection to the investigation. The court found this overreach violated First Amendment rights and threatened platform security, ordering the Trump administration to stop the surveillance.

Key points

• The Trump administration's fight to stop leaks on LinkedIn failed because the government could not access a vast number of confidential sources.
• The Department of Justice requested 18 months of LinkedIn communications from over 1,000 journalists with no direct connection to the investigation.

Context

The Trump administration sought to stop leaks of top-secret military information on LinkedIn. The Department of Justice requested 18 months of communications from targeted journalists who published over 1,000 articles on various topics. The request was not limited to journalists involved in a specific controversial report, but cast a wide net on anyone with a possible link to the journalists around the time the report was drafted.

Limitations

The evidence is limited to the court ruling and the specific facts provided in the article. The court did not name the specific journalists or the specific news outlet involved in the leak. The article does not provide details on the specific military information leaked or the exact timeline of the leak beyond the 18-month window requested by the DOJ.

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