A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered a lower court to narrow a demand for journalists’ LinkedIn records in a classified leak investigation. The ruling sends the case back to a federal judge in Virginia to decide what records investigators can obtain and how much LinkedIn can tell the news outlet.
The Fourth Circuit’s published opinion describes an investigation that followed a news report containing previously undisclosed details of a military operation. Investigators sought 18 months of account records under the Stored Communications Act. A separate order barred LinkedIn from telling the journalists or their employer about the demand for one year.
The dispute concerns account metadata. That information can reveal who communicated with whom and when. The panel concluded that the demand swept too broadly and risked exposing confidential sources unrelated to the investigation. The Associated Press reported that the public court records did not identify the news outlet.
The panel also directed the lower court to revise the secrecy order so LinkedIn can notify one vetted lawyer for the outlet. It upheld the denial of LinkedIn’s request to see materials the government had submitted privately, citing national security concerns.
The case returns to the district court in Newport News. The investigation can continue while the judge determines which records fall within a narrower order.