A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday temporarily blocked a federal administrative subpoena aimed at unmasking Instagram accounts that named and shamed a Border Patrol agent who was part of the immigration raids in Los Angeles this summer.

The Department of Homeland Security sent an administrative subpoena to Meta in early September demanding the names, email addresses, and phone numbers associated with six separate Instagram accounts. Three Instagram users and immigration activists filed separate motions to quash the subpoena last week.

“Pending resolution of this motion, the Court now orders Meta not to produce the requested information without further order of the Court,” wrote Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse in a brief order on the motion filed by the activist who runs the Instagram account for the Long Beach Rapid Response Network.

“We are grateful that the Court took prompt action to prevent the irreparable injury to Long Beach Rapid Response if she had been stripped of her anonymity,” said Joshua Koltun, attorney for LBRRN, in an emailed statement. “We look forward to litigating this matter and vindicating the First Amendment rights of the people to speak and associate anonymously in opposition to the government.”

Another........

© The Intercept