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FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A divided federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of an ACLU lawsuit that disputed part of the case. National Security AgencyUnwarranted surveillance of Americans’ international email and telephone communications.

The US Court of Appeals 4th Circuit ruled on Wednesday that the case should be dropped after the government exercised its “privilege of state secrets,” meaning that a full investigation of the issue in a court would be detrimental to national security.

In the case, the Wikimedia Foundation, which manages Wikipedia, National Security AgencyThe “upstream” surveillance program necessarily covers some of their international communications and is a violation of free speech rights and Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

The details of the Upstream program are classified, but it collects data from transmissions over high-speed cables that carry electronic communications in and out of the country.

In the majority opinion, Obama’s appointee Judge Albert Diaz accepted the government’s arguments that a case against the program’s constitution could not be pursued without harming national security.

“There’s no plausible defense for this claim that wouldn’t also reveal the information the government is trying to protect: How upstream surveillance works and where it’s conducted,” Diaz wrote.

In a dissent, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote that the Supreme Court was prepared to hear arguments about a case that could reveal the breadth of state secrets privilege, and that it was a mistake to allow the government to initiate it before that decision.

He said the majority opinion “represents a sweeping proposition”: even if the government bases its only defense on forced assumptions, a case can be dismissed under the state secrets doctrine after minimal judicial review.

Patrick Toomey, attorney for the ACLU’s National Security Project, which represents Wikimedia, said he was “extremely disappointed” by the decision and that lawyers were considering appeal options.

“Everyday, NSA It diverts Americans’ communications from the internet backbone and into spying machines, violating privacy and discouraging free speech,” he said. ”

The lawsuit was filed after NSA Statements by contractor Edward Snowden about the extent of agency oversight. The lawsuit was first dismissed in 2015 as to whether plaintiffs would sue. The 4th Circuit, however, revived the case and sent it back to the lower court, but again dismissed it in 2019 over the state secrets argument.

The Upstream program is only part of the program. NSAsurveillance. The “downstream” section includes internet service providers such as: Google when collecting communications of selected targets. The court decision shows that subcollection provides the “vast majority” of those collected by the buyer. NSA.