Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft are fighting government gag orders

Court documents unsealed Friday show Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft are arguing  that government gag orders that stop them from disclosing the number of national security requests they receive violate the companies’ First Amendment right to free speech. Leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that revealed how the government uses tech firms in its surveillance efforts have damaged their bottom lines and public reputations — particularly overseas. The companies have begun to push back against some government orders to stay silent. The gag orders, called “national security letters,” compel Web and telecommunication companies to share information with the government while simultaneously prohibiting them from speaking about the request. Since the Snowden leaks, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft have fought to include more information about national security requests in regular reports they release on how much data the government requests from their servers.