I won’t lie to you, I told myself I wouldn’t even take 5 minutes drawing this
Shitposting on Reddit. It’s an internet pastime as old as… well, Reddit. The website hosts links, images, videos, all manner of media from across the web and also media directly submitted to Reddit. There, people can comment on it, argue about it, or just follow their favorite topics. There are communities for news, just about every hobby you can think of, and more. There are left and right leaning pockets, but the general vibe in most popular circles is right-leaning. As a former Reddit mod, let me save you the time, don’t waste your life scrolling through people who are wrong on the internet. It’s not worth it.
One person made a variety of anti-ICE comments. Nothing truly bad or violent, just that killers in ICE should face the legal system for their crimes. He also shared already public information about the person who killed Renée Good. That was enough to put him in ICE’s crosshairs. They tried for a month to get his identity, including a failed subpoena. Now they’re trying something extreme, and if it works, all free speech on the internet is at risk.
Why Him? A SLAPP with Government Power
The defendant, only identified (hopefully permanently) as John Doe, is being targeted for some posts made on Reddit. Did he threaten violence? No. Did he share any information that wasn’t public already? Also no. Did he give any indication of a crime? No. On an article about Renée Good’s killing, he posted information about the shooter that was already made public elsewhere. He stated that he wanted justice for the killing, but not violent justice. He simply expressed the hope that Renée Good’s killer finds himself in prison. He also stated “TSA sucks and we all know it,” and, let’s face it, you don’t love going to the airport two hours before your flight and taking off half your clothes either, do you?
Those simple statements, things most people believe, that TSA is a pain in the ass and murderers should be tried for their crimes, were enough to turn ICE on to Mr. J. Doe.
ICE is going after the defendant with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, specifically a section used for information gathering when a person is suspected of evading tariffs through smuggled imported goods. What does this have to do with wanting killers to face a jury or hating taking your belt off for a flight? Nothing, obviously. He did nothing illegal, made no threats, and never talked of international travel at all, let alone smuggling.
I believe his lawyer explains the issue best in a filing by the Civil Liberties Defense Center, who is representing him.
“J. Doe is a US citizen who has not traveled out of the country, is not engaged in any international commerce, has no business concerns outside the United States, and primarily uses their Reddit account to engage in political speech relevant to their local community. … Yet the government claims the right to obtain Doe’s name, telephone number, home address, banking and credit card information, IP addresses, telephone model number(s), and the names of any other accounts associated with their Reddit account. The information sought by the government in no way pertains to customs or importing or exporting merchandise, and is clearly intended to chill free speech.”
A SLAPP Across the Face
That’s all this is, a governmental SLAPP suit. If you didn’t know, SLAPP suits are “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,” or put more simply, they’re frivolous lawsuits made by rich people to shut poor people up.
“I spent a couple of bucks on legal fees, and they spent a whole lot more. I did it to make his life miserable, which I’m happy about.”
– Donald Trump on why he sued an author for defamation
Donald Trump has been accused by numerous people of these SLAPP lawsuits. He has previously stated he wanted stronger libel laws, likely to make silencing critics easier. Now that Donald Trump has ultimate power in the United States, having all branches of government collapse and answer directly to him, his eagerness to shut up his opposition has been on full display. They’ve tried subpoenas before, but always back down because the government can’t sue you just because they don’t like what you’re saying. They’re not a billionaire, after all, there’s that pesky constitution they have to worry about! But now the Trump regime has a new tool: secretive grand juries that seek to manufacture cause for a full lawsuit.
A Secret Grand Jury When All Else Fails
You can say no to a subpoena and the person filing it would have to state legal reason for requiring the information in front of a judge. Obviously this would cause the case to get thrown out and set a precedent that would block such frivolous subpoenas being used to identify political opponents in the future. Trump wants to rule as long as he can, he can’t afford such a setback in the courts now!
“We do not voluntarily share information with any government, especially not on users exercising their rights to criticize the government or plan a protest. We review every inquiry for legal sufficiency and routinely object to requests that are overbroad or threaten civil rights. When legally compelled to disclose data, we provide only the minimum required and notify the user whenever possible so they can defend their interests.”
– Reddit statement on Trump Administration’s subpoena
When a company is subpoenaed for information on a user, they usually tell the user as soon as they can. That’s because these subpoenas often have a very short window in which you can fight back against them, making getting representation within 10-14 days extremely important. In this case, the Redditor who was targeted obtained legal representation. As soon as he did, Trump chickened out and dropped the subpoena. Usually, that’s the end of it, but Trump’s ICE is looking for something more.
A grand jury decides if there is a case before something can go to court. The old saying is, “a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich,” which means they need the bare minimum proof that there might be a crime was committed to get warrants and collect more evidence. For Trump’s ICE, it’s a safer bet than having a subpoena thrown out of court for trying to restrict free speech. It’s also a considerable escalation. It forces a representative from Reddit to defend their user in a court in front of a grand jury in Washington D.C. If the jury chooses to indict, the Trump administration will be able to take whatever information they want. They likely won’t bring anything to a lawsuit after that, as there were no crimes committed here, they just want to intimidate companies and people to oppress speech. It’s an extreme tactic to silence critics and build a database of dissenters.
Trump’s making lists of people who disagree with him and building more internment camps than we’d need to deportation. I wonder if there are any historical references we could make here?
Unlike a trial, grand jury proceedings won’t be public. We won’t know what happened until afterwards. But if it goes through, all of our data is in danger. Companies will comply with whatever the Trump administration says, using the grand jury process as a SLAPP suit that companies won’t have the resources to fight back against. Trump’s goons will get everything they want if the grand jury decides ICE has a case.
What’s Next?
If Trump’s ICE gets what they want, they’ll be able to get all of John Doe’s information. This will include his real name, email address, other accounts associated with that email address across all of social media, IP addresses and likely locations, and email address. It’ll also be everything they need to get, through government information, his face, home address, social security number, everything they can possibly want to know about him and his family. As he didn’t actually commit a crime or even threaten violence, it’s clear they just want the ability to catalog him.
And they’ll come for the rest of us too. This was just to test if this strategy works. If it does, they won’t stop at one innocent internet commenter, they’re going to come for everyone who isn’t a Trump worshiper.
Keep your social media private. Don’t let strangers follow you. Try to limit or just don’t upload any complete photos of your face. Watch your email inbox for any subpoena notifications and respond to them quickly with representation.
Maybe one day we’ll be a country that holds its constitution and free speech in high esteem. We won’t get that for a long time if Trump has his way, limiting our speech and even our ability to vote. These are dark times.
Sources:
- Anti-SLAPP.org
- Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica
- Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept
- Jude Joffe-Block, NPR News
- Kristen Welker and Megan Lebowitz, NBC News