Facebook and Twitter back Apple versus FBI requests for iPhone backdoor

Facebook and Twitter are siding with Apple in its fight against a court order requiring the company to help investigators break into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino mass shooters.

A US magistrate has ordered Apple to produce software that would give investigators access to the iPhone at issue. Apple has until Tuesday to challenge the order, setting the stage for a legal clash that experts say could change the relationship between tech companies and government authorities in the US and around the world.

Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in a December 2 shooting at a holiday lunch for Farook’s co-workers. The couple later died in a gun battle with police in San Bernardino, California.