Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA
Wikimedia Foundation, et al. v. National Security Agency, et al. is a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation and several other organizations against the National Security Agency (NSA), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and other named individuals, alleging mass surveillance of Wikipedia users carried out by the NSA. The suit claims the surveillance system, which NSA calls "Upstream", breaches the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects freedom of speech, and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
| Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA | |
|---|---|
| Court | United States District Court for the District of Maryland |
| Full case name | Wikimedia Foundation, et al. v. National Security Agency, et al. |
| Defendant | National Security Agency / Central Security Service, United States Department of Justice, Adm. Michael S. Rogers in his official capacity as Director of the National Security Agency and Chief of the Central Security Service, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Daniel R. Coats in his official capacity as Director of National Intelligence, and Jefferson B. Sessions III in his official capacity as Attorney General of the United States |
| Counsel for plaintiff(s) | American Civil Liberties Union, Cooley LLP |
| Plaintiff(s) | Wikimedia Foundation, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, PEN American Center, Global Fund for Women, The Nation, Rutherford Institute, Washington Office on Latin America |
| Citation(s) | No. 15-2560 |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | Dismissal of all plaintiffs' complaints by the US District Court for the District of Maryland. Dismissal appealed by the Wikimedia Foundation Affirmation of dismissal of 8 of the 9 plaintiffs' complaints (Wikimedia excluded) by US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Dismissal of Wikimedia Foundation's allegations concurrently vacated and remanded |
| Subsequent action(s) | Dismissal of the Wikimedia Foundation's allegations Certiorari denied |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | T. S. Ellis III |
The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland as the NSA is based in Fort Meade, Maryland. The suit was dismissed in October 2015 by Judge T. S. Ellis III; this decision was appealed four months later to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals by the Wikimedia Foundation. The Court of Appeals found that the dismissal was valid for all of the plaintiffs except the Foundation, whose allegations the court found "plausible" enough to have legal standing for the case to be remanded to the lower court.
In further rulings, the District Court, Court of Appeals, and (in declining to hear the case) U.S. Supreme Court, ruled for the NSA, ending the litigation.