Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- July 29, 2019
- Location
- San Francisco, California
- Targets
- BuzzFeed News
- Legal Orders
-
-
subpoena
for
communications or work product
- Jul. 29, 2019: Pending
-
subpoena
for
communications or work product
- Legal Order Target
- Institution
- Legal Order Venue
- Federal
Subpoena/Legal Order
A portion of the second subpoena received by BuzzFeed as part of a defamation case between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the caver Vernon Unsworth.
BuzzFeed News was issued a second subpoena in the ongoing defamation case between caver Vernon Unsworth and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on July 29, 2019. In total, five subpoenas were issued for reporting material and testimony from the digital news outlet and one of its reporters.
Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the tech executive repeatedly labeled him a pedophile without evidence on Twitter and in communications with BuzzFeed senior tech journalist Ryan Mac, the latter of which were published by the outlet.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reviewed the subpoena issued by counsel for Unsworth. The subpoena ordered BuzzFeed to produce all documents and communications produced in response to a previous subpoena by Musk’s counsel, as well as website traffic metrics on the dates articles concerning Musk’s dispute with Unsworth were published and data analytics for interactions with each article on BuzzFeed’s website and social media.
An email exchange between BuzzFeed attorney Kate Bolger and Unsworth attorney Taylor Wilson concerning the subpoena was documented in a subsequent motion. Bolger stated in the exchange, “BuzzFeed will produce the page views you requested provided you agree that no further response to the subpoena is required and that there will be no additional subpoenae.”
Wilson agreed not to file additional discovery subpoenas, but reserved the right to seek trial testimony.
BuzzFeed filed formal objections to the subpoena demands on First and 14th Amendment grounds on Aug. 23. The outlet did agree to provide copies of documents prepared in response to the Musk subpoena and non-privileged website traffic and article metrics.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
