Trump protests at the center of insanely broad government requests for Facebook data

The DC branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is helping three anti-Trump activists fight what they say is an overly broad government demand for their personal Facebook data. In “motion to quash” court documents filed this month, ACLU lawyers argue that letting federal investigators comb through the contents of individual Facebook pages amounts to an unjustified and unconstitutional invasion of privacy. The motion concerns an ongoing case in which the DOJ has been seeking information related to protests and rioting during the January 20 inauguration of President Trump.

Despite the fact that the case has been going on for months, the activists only recently learned that the US is interested in their Facebook data. While Facebook typically tells users about government warrants, a gag order initially prohibited it from doing so in this case. Facebook challenged that order and the government ultimately agreed to allow it to disclose the warrants.