Update, 2:15 p.m., Friday:
Twitter has dropped a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, saying the demand that prompted the suit -- that Twitter reveal the anonymous user behind an "alt-gov" account -- has been withdrawn.
The original lawsuit, filed by the social media giant on Thursday, alleged that DHS had demanded that Twitter reveal the user behind "@ALT_uscis," an account allegedly run by current and former Citizenship and Immigration Services employees.
The summons threatened legal action if Twitter did not comply -- and asked Twitter not to disclose the existence of the demand. Twitter sued, exposing the summons and asking a court to declare it unenforceable.
"Because the summons has now been withdrawn," Twitter's lawyers write in the latest filing, the company dropped the suit.
Original post:
Twitter is suing the Department of Homeland Security after the agency demanded to know the identity of the person behind the "@ALT_uscis" or "Alt Immigration" Twitter account, one of several "rogue" accounts ostensibly created by anonymous employees of the federal government.