US demands details of 1.3m visitors to anti-Trump website

The US government has ordered the US-based web hosting service DreamHost to disclose the details of more than 1.3 million visitors to an anti-Trump website.

The website, disruptj20.org, was used by millions to organise protests, marches and civil disobedience during President Donald Trump's inauguration on 20 January this year.

The US Department of Justice served DreamHost with a search warrant for every item of information it possessed in mid-July, DreamHost said on Tuesday, triggering concerns about individual privacy online.

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DreamHost said in a statement that the request for information included "1.3 million visitor IP addresses – in addition to contact information, email content, and photos of thousands of people – in an effort to determine who simply visited the website".

"That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech," it added, and said that such a request "should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone's mind".

The Guardian describes the Department of Justice's request as "an escalation of the [its] campaign against anti-Trump activities, including the harsh prosecution of inauguration day protesters".

At least 217 people were arrested during a protest against Trump's inauguration, the Daily Telegraph reports.