SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A Canadian man who has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump is suing Google in an effort to stop the company from sharing his personal and location information with the U.S. government, according to an ACLU press release.
The lawsuit, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, challenges a federal demand issued by the Department of Homeland Security, which ordered Google to turn over any data tied to the anonymous online critic after he posted commentary about the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
The plaintiff, identified as John Doe, has posted numerous strongly worded criticisms of President Trump and his policies on social media, including on his X account, garnering well over 100,000 views. The Department of Homeland Security has sought to identify information linked to the account, raising significant concerns about free speech rights and government surveillance.
On Feb. 14, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security demanded that Google hand over the plaintiff’s personal email account linked to his X account. The summons also sought identifying details, including where he lives and how he moves online, and requested access to his search history and online communications.
While Google has the capacity to collect this information and often does, the ACLU argues that the request violates First Amendment protections by attempting to identify an individual engaged in political speech. The complaint further alleges that the summons is “a transparent gambit to chill speech the government doesn’t like.”
The Department of Homeland Security issued the summons on its own authority without involving a court, even though the plaintiff resides in Canada and has not entered the United States since 2015, placing the action far outside the legal authority cited by the agency.
Mr. Doe said, “I have long admired the U.S. for its commitment to free speech. Never in a million years did I think that after criticizing the U.S. government, I would be targeted with a summons seeking to find out who I am, where I live, where I go, and what I read online. You don’t have to be from America to know that this is un-American.”
Michael Perloff, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of the District of Columbia, said, “Not satisfied with trying to suppress speech at home, the Trump administration is now targeting dissenters abroad. A law designed to enforce customs does not give the government authority to target its critics around the world.”
Jake Snow, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, said, “The Trump administration is illegally targeting online critics just because it doesn’t like what they’re posting. That sets a dangerous and terrifying precedent that threatens all of our fundamental rights.”
The case is one of a growing number involving online critics targeted by the Department of Homeland Security. The ACLU of Northern California, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the national ACLU have filed three other cases addressing similar issues, though the agency withdrew those subpoenas before a judge could rule on their legality.
The New York Times and other media outlets have reported that social media platforms have received hundreds of similar government demands for information since President Trump began his second term.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, seeks not only to block the summons but also to set limits on how far the government can go in identifying its critics, particularly those outside the United States.
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