# Trump admin loses fight to spy on random journalists’ LinkedIn DMs

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/trump-admin-loses-fight-to-spy-on-random-journalists-linkedin-dms/
- Published: 2026-11-11T18:05:26+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-11T20:05:05+00:00
- Original publisher: Ars Technica
- Original article: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/11/trump-admin-loses-fight-to-spy-on-random-journalists-linkedin-dms/
- Topics: Software

## Key points

- A court found the LinkedIn records demand too broad.
- Journalists’ confidential sources could be exposed.
- A lower court must narrow the request.

## Summary

A US appeals court ruled that the Justice Department’s request for journalists’ LinkedIn records in a military leak investigation was too broad. The judges said collecting communications from reporters with no clear connection to the inquiry could expose confidential sources and threaten press freedom.

The request sought 18 months of communications from journalists who published more than 1,000 articles on varied subjects, and was accompanied by a secrecy order lasting a year. The unanimous appeals panel did not cancel the request, but sent it back to a lower court to narrow its scope and consider limited notification to a lawyer for the news outlet under investigation.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.