Facebook and Yahoo are asking a secret court to allow them to disclose data on national security orders the companies have received under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The firms asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for permission to publish more details about the types of national security- related orders they receive from the U.S. government, following a similar petition by Google and Microsoft.

All four companies were among several U.S. Internet businesses identified as giving the National Security Agency access to customer data under the program known as PRISM. Facebook and Yahoo say they want to correct false claims and reports about what they provide to the government. They argue they have a free-speech right to publish aggregate data on national security orders.

In filings with the secret court, which issues warrants for collecting foreign intelligence inside the U.S., the companies said today they are seeking approval to disclose aggregate data that they received under national security rules. The companies aren’t authorized to break out the number of requests they get for user data under national security statutes.

The technology companiesare looking for greater latitude to disclose information about government requests for user data collected by intelligence agencies. The legal efforts come amid reports based on documents from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden that raised questions about whether U.S. National Security Agency surveillance activities undermine civil liberties.

“We believe that while governments have an important responsibility to keep people safe, it is possible to do so while also being transparent,” Colin Stretch, Facebook’s general counsel, said in a post.

‘Important Responsibility’

“We believe that the U.S. Government’s important responsibility to protect public safety can be carried out without precluding Internet companies from sharing the number of national security requests they may receive,” Ron Bell, general counsel of Yahoo, said in a blog post.

Facebook provided a copy of its complaint, which couldn’t be immediately confirmed in court records. Yahoo described its complaint in a blog post.

Officials with some Web companies, including Yahoo and Google, also are planning to meet with President Barack Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology regarding disclosure concerns.

Google also amended its petition to the court, asking for the right to disclose more detailed statistics about the types of national security requests the company receives. Google said it asked the court to hold its hearing in the “open” and not “behind closed doors.”

Google, along with Facebook and Yahoo, publish periodic reports on government requests for data from the U.S. and other nations.

The Google case is In Re motion for declaratory judgement of Google Inc.’s First Amendment right to publish aggregate information about FISA orders, 13-03, U.S. Foreign Intelligence Foreign Surveillance Court (Washington).

Sheldon Snook, a spokesman for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, didn’t immediately respond to a call for comment.