Twitter fined for late delivery of Trump records

United States: Twitter, now known as X, has been penalised with a $350,000 fine on Wednesday for being held in contempt due to its failure to promptly grant access to former US President Trump’s account, as directed by the court. This information comes from a recently unveiled court document.

The fine was imposed after a team of US special counsel Jack Smith secured a search warrant of the account in connection with Trump’s efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. His office sought the warrant in January 2023.

Additionally, the government secured a nondisclosure agreement that ensured the warrant’s confidentiality, preventing Twitter from informing Trump about the acquisition of a warrant for his account.

Twitter raised an objection to the non-disclosure agreement, four days following the deadline for compliance, that it would not furnish any of the account details, as specified in the ruling. The judges noted that Twitter did not question the legitimacy of the search warrant, but contended that the non-disclosure agreement impinged upon the first amendment. They sought a court evaluation of the agreement’s legality before disclosing any information.

The failure to comply within the designated timeframe led a lower court to hold Twitter in contempt. Thee federal court in Washington upheld that decision.