Twitter is suing to stop the Trump Administration which had demanded that the micro-blogging network reveal the users behind an account that had sharply criticized the occupant of the White House.

"The rights of free speech afforded Twitter's users and Twitter itself under the First Amendment of the US Constitution include a right to disseminate such anonymous or pseudonymous political speech," Twitter argued, adding that the government "may not compel Twitter to disclose information regarding the real identities of these users without first demonstrating that some criminal or civil offense has been committed".

Free speech advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union are applauding the decision.

"We are pleased to see Twitter standing up for its users' rights, and the ACLU will soon be filing documents in court on behalf of this user," the ACLU said in an emailed statement.  "To unmask an anonymous speaker online, the government must have a strong justification. But in this case the government has given no reason at all, leading to concerns that it is simply trying to stifle dissent."

The @ALT_USCIS profile purported to be operated by dissident federal employees at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services opposed to Donald Trump's draconian policies towards undocumented workers.  It was one of several so-called "alternative" accounts for US government agencies that appeared after the inauguration.

The US government belligerently demanded "all records regarding the twitter account @ALT_USCIS to conclude, User names, account login, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and IP addresses".  In what's becoming typical comical incompetence, the Trump administration specified a 13 March deadline but didn't make the demand until 14 March.  The government is basing its request on a power it typically uses to obtain records relating to imported merchandise. 

In its own defense, @ALT_USCIS tweeted the First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees free speech in the US.