Tech giants including Google, Microsoft and Apple have agreed to alert users via subpoena immediately after receiving government requests to disclose consumers' information.
These government-released subpoenas are asking the companies to reveal the identity of users whose comments are said to be aimed at politicians. Federal officials said the move is reportedly voluntary in nature and should be performed as discreetly as possible to ensure criminal suspects aren't alerted.
But not all law enforcement officers agree with the new move - some expressed that the disclosure could jeopardize their investigations and widen the gap between Silicon Valley and Washington.
Under the new policy, some federal investigations would remain untouched, including national security cases and email-focused search warrants.
Tech companies do not have the permission to disclose any information that threatens the nation's safety.
Alerting users of the subpoenas should be expected from the companies, a law professor at Georgetown University and executive director for the Electronic Privacy Information center told the Wall Street Journal.
"It could slow the investigative process down. But that's the point," Marc Rotenberg said.
According to the Post, which first reported on the policy changes, a company can be held in contempt if it fails to comply with a given court order. With this in mind, several companies have outlined some exceptions for cases that they believe don't require user notification. Microsoft, for instance, has attached the familiar adage, "unless specifically prohibited by law" to its compliance policy. Apple, on the other hand, has decided to put more weight on user safety - officials at the tech company banned subpoena delivery if it could potentially harm a child, or another person.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Facebook founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg have both lashed out in response to this subpoena policy. However, a Facebook spokeswoman confirmed that the social networking site is already studying how it will align its policies with the changes.
Other companies such as Twitter and WordPress have alerted users concerning the subpoenas.