From: https://shorturl.at/nahtJ (dailywire.com)

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Irish Police Used Secret Court Order To Extract Info From Journalists. Elon's
Shut It Down.

Reporters blast "gross abuse of power and Irish law" after Irish state
police ask for private communications on social media platform

By Bree Dail
Mar 11, 2025 DailyWire.com

Elon Musk's social media platform X is being hailed in Ireland for its
defense of the free press after it declined to comply with a demand from
Irish authorities for confidential user data from one of the nation's only
independent news outlets.

An Irish court order, issued on June 13, 2024, and obtained by The Daily
Wire, sought not only private account details, but also a log of IP
addresses and messages tied to the Gript Media's coverage of the April
protests against the forced housing of undocumented migrants by the Irish
government.

The order, granted under Ireland's Criminal Justice Act 1994 at the
request of Garda S¡och na, Ireland's national police, directed X to
produce extensive data linked to Gript Media's official X account,
@griptmedia. The court order specifically sought subscriber and
registration details, including all logged IP addresses, private messages
that would have exposed confidential informants, attachments, and posted
videos from April 25-28, 2024.

In a February email to Gript, X notified Gript of Ireland's June request
and said it would not comply.

"X has not produced information related to your account in response to
this legal process," the email said, according to a copy obtained by The
Daily Wire. "One of our core values is to defend and respect the user's
voice. Accordingly, it is our policy to notify users of requests for their
account information as soon as the law allows us too, unless we're
generally prohibited from doing so."

In April, Gript extensively covered protests in Newtownmountkennedy, where
Irish citizens opposed the establishment of an "asylum seeker"
accommodation center. The demonstrations escalated on April 25, with the
Garda Public Order Unit using force, including pepper spray, against
protesters. Gript's journalist Fatima Gunning was caught in the clashes,
an incident captured on video and widely circulated online.

According to court documents obtained by The Daily Wire, it was shortly
after the publication of these videos that the Garda¡ sought legal
authority to access Gript's X account, a move seen by journalists as an
attempt to intimidate those seeking to expose state misconduct.

Gary Kavanagh, Gript's deputy editor, condemned the order calling it a
"direct attack on press freedom" designed to deter sources from speaking
to journalists.

"The role of journalism is to hold power to account, but how can we do
that when the state is using secret court orders to access our private
communications?" Kavanagh said. "This is not just about Gript; this is
about the future of a free press in Ireland."

He also praised X for its "commitment to free speech."

"If this had happened under the previous management of Twitter, we might
never have even known about it," Kavanagh said. "The fact that Musk's team
stood firm is a testament to their commitment to free speech and
transparency."

Gunning, the journalist, told The Daily Wire that if X complied with the
order, she would have been "powerless" as a reporter.

"As a journalist, if I cannot establish trust of confidentiality with
sources if needs be, I am in many ways rendered powerless to report on
issues of concern to the Irish people," Gunning said.

"I can put my hand on my heart and say that I believe my reporting on the
situation in Newtownmountkennedy was fair to both the protestors and the
Garda¡," she said. "Anyone interested doesn't need to take my word for
this: they can simply watch the many videos I posted from the scene which
did not give favorable coverage to either side."

"Nothing was concealed from the public on my part, so to have our national
police force use laws originally intended to tackle those funding
terrorism against my colleagues and it feels like nothing more than a
gross abuse of power and Irish law."

Kavanagh says Gript has since instructed legal counsel to challenge the
warrant's legitimacy, suspecting it may have been improperly awarded. "If
the Irish state can do this to Gript today, it can do it to any journalist
tomorrow," Kavanagh stated.

Reached for comment by The Daily Wire, a Garda S¡och na spokesman
"declined to comment on ongoing investigations," but defended the use of
court orders, stating that law enforcement has a duty to obtain all
available evidence when investigating alleged criminal activity.

"We operate within the legal framework set out by the Irish courts and
judicial oversight is always applied in such cases," the spokesman said.

The force did not address concerns about press freedoms or the
implications of using anti-crime legislation against journalists.

This is only the latest of a number of controversies amid growing concerns
over state surveillance and media suppression in Ireland and the European
Union. Critics argue that granting police unrestricted access to social
media accounts could undermine free speech and chill the press,
particularly in countries where major social media companies, including X,
maintain European headquarters.

The incident also ties into a broader debate on Ireland's housing crisis
and immigration policies. Many protesters in Newtownmountkennedy argued
that the government's prioritization of undocumented "asylum seekers" for
housing left native Irish citizens waiting years for accommodations. The
government's approach, coupled with its crackdown on journalists covering
these protests, has only inflamed public distrust.

X's refusal to comply with the court order, however, underscores the
platform's commitment to free speech.

As the Irish government faces mounting international criticism over its
treatment of independent journalists, its handling of immigration
protests, and the potential misuse of legal mechanisms to silence
dissenting voices, Gript Media remains resolute-vowing to challenge the
order in court.

Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin, known as the Taoiseach, will be
in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with President Donald Trump at the
White House.
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-- Sean

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