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  • 2018-10-08 (xsd:date)
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  • Did the Justice Department Demand Facebook Information for 'Anti-Trump Activists'? (en)
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  • In early October 2018, social media users recirculated variations of a news item that, while legitimate, was something that had been resolved in the courts months earlier. The story, first reported by the website LawNewz on 28 September 2017 and subsequently picked up by other news outlets, concerned the Department of Justice's (DOJ) efforts to gather information from Facebook accounts in connection with a protest against President Donald Trump's inauguration. The DOJ served search warrants against Facebook seeking information on activists Legba Carrefour and Lacy MacAuley, as well as a separate warrant against Emmelia Talarico, who operated the Facebook page DisruptJ20, now known as Resist This! According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who filed a motion to intervene, the warrants were overly broad and would have required disclosure of information about thousands of people who were not targets of the investigation: The warrants were originally filed in February 2017 but were accompanied by a gag order. They came to light shortly after the DOJ dropped the gag order, allowing Facebook to notify the three targeted individuals. On 13 November 2017, D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Robert E. Morin ruled that while Carrefour and MacAuley had not been charged in connection with activities during the inauguration protests that past January, authorities could still request a search of their accounts. However, Morin also ruled that the names of their friends and anyone who exchanged messages with the duo be redacted. Morin also ordered Facebook to redact the identities of about 6,000 users who liked or followed the DisruptJ20 Facebook page. In July 2017, the DOJ also served a separate warrant to the web hosting company DreamHost seeking Internet provider (IP) addresses and other information for 1.3 million visitors to the site DisruptJ20.org: Morin ruled in November 2017 that DreamHost could redact users' IP and email information while still complying with the warrant: (en)
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