Twitter Breaks Rank, Threatens To Fight NSA Gag Orders

Twitter threatened to launch a legal battle with the Obama administration on Thursday over gag orders that prevent it from disclosing information about surveillance of its users.

The statement puts Twitter at odds with other technology giants including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook, who all struck a deal with the government last month to drop their lawsuits in exchange for looser secrecy rules.

"We think the government's restriction on our speech not only unfairly impacts our users' privacy, but also violates our First Amendment right to free expression and open discussion of government affairs," Jeremy Kessel, Twitter's manager of global legal policy, wrote in a blog post.

He said the company has pressed the Justice Department for greater transparency and is also "considering legal options we may have to seek to defend our First Amendment rights."