MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The US social networking forum Reddit removed a paragraph from its annual transparency report, which claimed the company never received a surveillance request from the government to disclose customer data.
The move carried out on Thursday prompted users to believe that Reddit had received a national security letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to carry out social media surveillance without seeking court orders.
Such surveillance requests are secret by nature and it would be illegal for Reddit to confirm their existence.
US law enforcement agencies have come under heavy criticism by privacy advocates and civil liberties groups for employing invasive surveillance techniques and technologies to spy on US citizens.
