Washington (CNN) -- Microsoft and Google are getting help from other tech companies in their fight to release more information about government surveillance orders, which companies say is their First Amendment right to provide. On Monday, Microsoft and Google were joined by Yahoo and Facebook in asking the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to allow them to make public aggregate data listing the number of court-ordered records requests, including those made for criminal and national security investigations. The companies, in court filings made with the surveillance court, portrayed the government's attempt to block them from publishing more detailed data as a version of prior restraint, infringing their right to exercise their First Amendment rights. The move seeks to set a high bar for the government to stop publication, akin to the Nixon administration's failed attempt to stop newspapers from publishing the Pentagon Papers.
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Microsoft, Google seek OK to tell customers what information NSA has gotten
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Yahoo, Facebook join request before Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
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Companies say not reporting the information violates First Amendment rights
Google in its filing says, "Notwithstanding Google's complete denial, the revelations about the scope of the @placeholder activities, and false or misleading stories about Google's alleged involvement in such activities, have continued unabated and continue to cause substantial harm to Google's reputation and business."