I highly doubt the canary would be a valid defence. By omitting the line you are, for most intents and purposes, saying that you received a request. Now, sayin

I highly doubt the canary would be a valid defence. By omitting the line you are, for most intents and purposes, saying that you received a request. Now, saying you received a request and saying specifically what request you received are different, but I imagine the gag order doesn't make that differentiation. Gag order is not that you can't say a specific thing, it's that you can't communicate a specific piece of information. The canary is communicating something. A court order can ask you to lie, so the "I can't lie to my customers" defence probably won't work.