California court: Defendants get crack at some social media

Associated Press: Facebook and other social media companies can be compelled to give criminal defendants preparing for trial user content that is already public, California’s highest court ruled Thursday.

The state Supreme Court’s ruling gives an opening to defense lawyers whose requests for information have been ignored by social media companies that argue a federal privacy law prevents its release.

Specifically, the high court rejected an appellate court’s ruling that providers were barred from disclosing communications that were set by the user to be public, and that remained public at the time defendants issued subpoenas to the companies.

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