Warrentless monitoring of social media on the rise

Federal law enforcement agencies have ramped up their monitoring of social media, including Facebook and Twitter, without obtaining search warrants, newly released documents show.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, obtained documents from the Justice Department under a Freedom of Information Act request detailing the use of “pen register” and “trap and trace” surveillance techniques used by federal agencies. The documents show a marked increase in monitoring social media beginning in 2009. 

Request to intercept social media communications jumped 80 percent from 2010 and 2011.