
Lawsuit
Doc Society v. Pompeo
A lawsuit challenging the State Department’s social media registration requirement
On December 5, 2019, the Knight Institute, Brennan Center for Justice, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett filed a lawsuit challenging the State Department’s new rules requiring nearly all visa applicants to register with the government all social media handles they have used in the preceding five years. The lawsuit also challenges the State Department’s and the Department of Homeland Security’s indefinite retention and broad dissemination of that information to federal, state, and local agencies and, in certain circumstances, to foreign governments.
The plaintiffs—Doc Society and the International Documentary Association—are two U.S.-based documentary film organizations whose missions are to foster creative collaboration across borders. The social media registration requirement impedes this collaboration by deterring the plaintiffs’ members and partners from speaking freely online and by discouraging filmmakers who would otherwise visit the United States from applying for visas to do so. As a result, the requirement deprives the plaintiffs and their U.S. members and audiences of opportunities to engage with filmmakers from around the world.
The lawsuit contends that the registration requirement violates the First Amendment rights of the plaintiffs and their members and partners, and that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
Status: Pending a decision on the government's motion to dismiss, which was fully briefed as of June 10, 2020.
Case Information: Doc Society v. Pompeo, No. 1:19-cv-03632 (D.D.C.).
Featured
Analysis
A New U.S. Visa Requirement is Silencing Foreign Filmmakers
Policy infringes on filmmakers' freedom of expression and interferes with Americans' ability to engage with diverse international thinkers
Press Statements
Analysis
-
Briefs Filed by Twitter, Reddit, EFF, and Muslim Advocates Highlight Far-Reaching Implications of Social Media Surveillance
By Leena Charlton & Jacob Apkon -
Visiting the US? The Government is Reading Your Old Facebook Posts
By Carrie DeCell & Cristian Farias -
A New U.S. Visa Requirement is Silencing Foreign Filmmakers
By Simon Kilmurry -
Social Media Vetting of Visa Applicants Violates the First Amendment
By Carrie DeCell & Harsha Panduranga
Legal Filings
Click to highlight response chains
-
KEY DOCUMENTS
-
D.D.C.
-
Government's Response to Notice of Supplemental Authority
-
Plaintiffs' Notice of Supplemental Authority
-
Exhibit A
-
Government's Reply
-
Amicus Briefs (in support of Plaintiffs)
-
Electronic Frontier Foundation
-
Twitter, Inc., Reddit Inc., and Internet Association
-
Faith-Based Organizations
-
Plaintiffs’ Opposition
-
Government's Motion to Dismiss
-
Exhibit 1
-
Exhibit 2
-
Exhibit 3
-
Exhibit 4
-
Exhibit 5
-
Exhibit 6
-
Exhibit 7
-
Exhibit 8
-
Exhibit 9
-
Exhibit 10
-
Exhibit 11
-
Exhibit 12
-
Exhibit 13
-
Exhibit 14
-
Order (setting briefing schedule)
-
Joint Request for a Briefing Schedule
-
Complaint
-