Judge rules Vice reporter must hand over digital messages

An Ontario court has ruled that a VICE News reporter must hand over all communications between him and an Islamic State fighter to Canada's federal police force.
Last month, VICE Media fought the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) court-granted production order for national security reporter Ben Makuch's Kik instant messenger app chat logs, or screen shots of the chats, between him and Farah Shirdon.
The 22-year-old Calgary man allegedly left Canada in 2014 to fight alongside IS in Iraq and Syria. He was charged in absentia with six terrorism-related offences last September, after he was interviewed by Makuch and VICE CEO Shane Smith. He's still at large and the RCMP has issued a red notice through INTERPOL asking for his capture and return back to Canada.
The RCMP argued they needed Makuch's communications with Shirdon as evidence to prove their charges.
VICE fought the production order in court, arguing that police seizure of any journalist's records would violate press freedoms and set a dangerous precedent for journalism in Canada.
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