RICHMOND, Virginia — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered a lower court to narrow demands for journalists’ LinkedIn records in a national-security leak investigation, finding that the existing orders risked exposing confidential sources unrelated to the inquiry.
The unanimous November 10 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected LinkedIn’s request to throw out the orders entirely. It returned the case to U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Hanes for further proceedings.
According to the opinion, the disclosure order sought 18 months of metadata — records identifying who communicated with whom and when — for journalists at an unnamed news organization. The journalists published nearly 1,000 articles during that period; fewer than 5 percent appeared related to the subject under investigation, the court said.
The investigation followed publication of classified information about a U.S. military operation abroad. The opinion does not identify the outlet, journalists or operation.
The panel said the government has a substantial national-security interest in investigating leaks, but courts must weigh the breadth of records sought and the potential harm to newsgathering under the Stored Communications Act and First Amendment.
A separate order barred LinkedIn from revealing the records demand for one year. The panel directed the lower court to reconsider LinkedIn’s proposal to notify one previously vetted lawyer for the outlet. Unless the government offers a more persuasive explanation of the risk to its investigation, that limited exception must be allowed, the court said.
The decision does not end the investigation or create a blanket exemption for reporters’ records. The scope of any revised orders remains unresolved.