TECHNOLOGY NEWS | Fri Apr 21, 2017 | 8:53pm EDT

U.S. Homeland Security probes possible abuse in Twitter summons case

By David Ingram | SAN FRANCISCO

The U.S. Homeland Security Department's inspector general said on Friday he was investigating possible abuse of authority in a case that triggered a lawsuit against the department by Twitter Inc (TWTR.N).

Inspector General John Roth described the probe in a letter to Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who had asked for an investigation due to concerns about free speech protections.

In a lawsuit on April 6, Twitter disclosed that it received a summons in March from the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, an agency within Homeland Security, demanding records about an account on the social media platform identified by the handle @ALT_uscis.

The account has featured posts critical of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, leading Twitter to complain in its lawsuit that the summons was an unlawful attempt to suppress dissent.

The agency dropped its demand of Twitter the day after the suit was filed.

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