EPIC - Federal Court Awards EPIC $30,000 in Social Media Monitoring Case

Federal Court Awards EPIC $30,000 in Social Media Monitoring Case

EPIC has prevailed in a fee dispute with the Department of Homeland Security in an open government case concerning the government’s monitoring of social media. EPIC filed a FOIA request after the agency announced plans to gather information from "online forums, blogs, public websites, and message boards." After the DHS refused to produce documents, EPIC filed suit and obtained more than 500 pages describing the agency program. When the agency subsequently moved to dismiss the case, a federal judge ruled that EPIC had "substantially prevailed." And when the DHS sought to give EPIC a token amount in settlement, the court had harsh words for the agency. The court described EPIC's work in the case as "the sort of public benefit that FOIA was designed to promote." The case is EPIC v. DHS, No. 11-2261 (D.D.C. Nov. 15, 2013). For more information, see EPIC v. DHS: Social Media Monitoring.

November 20, 2013| Share: