Wired reporter subpoenaed in adult entertainers’ lawsuit against Meta

Wired reporter Dell Cameron was subpoenaed on April 5, 2023, to provide testimony and documents about a confidential source, part of a California lawsuit against Meta and adult entertainment platform OnlyFans, according to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

In the underlying lawsuit, Dangaard v. Instagram, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, adult entertainers who performed on several online platforms alleged that OnlyFans conspired with Meta to suppress traffic to OnlyFans’ competitors. This included allegations that OnlyFans bribed Meta executives to demote plaintiff accounts on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Among the documents that the plaintiffs used to substantiate the bribery allegations was a transcript of a purported internal Meta investigation provided to Wired by a whistleblower. Wired had transcribed the document to conceal the identity of its source, then sent portions of the transcript to representatives of Meta and the plaintiffs for comment, according to court filings.

Meta’s attorneys said the company had conducted an intensive investigation into whether the document was legitimate and could not find any evidence to substantiate it.

The judge in the case, William Alsup, ordered the plaintiffs to subpoena Cameron, Wired editor Andrew Couts and Wired owner Condé Nast, to try to verify the authenticity of the document.

Duffy Carolan, an attorney for Wired and Condé Nast parent Advance, objected to the April 5 subpoenas on April 19, arguing that the subpoenas sought “the disclosure of confidential source information and non-confidential, unpublished information protected from compelled disclosure under the First Amendment qualified reporter’s privilege and/or the reporter’s privilege.”

Carolan also objected on similar grounds to document requests sent to her clients, seeking information related to the whistleblower report and other materials.

Ultimately, though, Cameron testified May 24 on his own behalf and as the corporate representative. However, he declined to answer most of the questions on Carolan’s advice that they violated the reporter’s privilege, according to a transcript reviewed by the Tracker. The Tracker was unable to confirm whether any documents were turned over.

In July, the plaintiffs withdrew the bribery claim, and in September 2024 the judge ruled the plaintiffs failed to prove the remaining claims.

Cameron, Couts and Carolan did not respond to emailed requests for comment.