As per the documents, Twitter initially delayed production of the materials required by the search warrant while it unsuccessfully litigated objections to the nondisclosure order.
“Although Twitter ultimately complied with the warrant, the company did not fully produce the requested information until three days after a court-ordered deadline,” the documents noted.
Twitter has now been fined $350,000 and held the company in content for the delay.
What was Twitter’s argument?
The company argued that the nondisclosure order “violated the First Amendment and the Stored Communications Act; that the district court should have stayed its enforcement of the search warrant until after Twitter’s objections to the nondisclosure order were resolved.” It further argued that the district court abused its discretion by holding Twitter in contempt and imposing the sanction.
Twitter delayed submitting the required documents and the government decided that more the company delayed, there would be fine to pay. A fine of $50,000 per day of delay was fixed, which was to double every day that Twitter did not comply. “The government suggested that Twitter’s three days of noncompliance after the deadline had passed merited a $350,000 sanction,” the court documents revealed.
Twitter did file an appeal in the court and the district court but both motions were duly rejected. “Twitter subsequently paid the $350,000 sanction into an escrow account maintained by the district court clerk’s office,” the documents added.