Facebook can’t be ordered to wiretap Messenger calls, judge rules

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A federal judge in Fresno, California recently denied prosecutors’ request to force Facebook to wiretap voice calls by suspected gang members conducted over Messenger.

According to a Friday report by Reuters, despite already having substantive traditional wiretaps and intercepting Messenger texts between alleged MS-13 gangsters, the government wanted further access.

“Currently, there is no practical method available by which law enforcement can monitor these calls,” FBI Special Agent Ryan Yetter wrote in a nearly-100-page-long affidavit submitted to the court on August 30, 2018. The three participants in those calls are now in jail, according to Reuters.

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Source: Ars Technica – Facebook can’t be ordered to wiretap Messenger calls, judge rules