The U.S. Department of Justice is demanding that it be given details about 1.3 million people who visited a website that was created to organize protestors on President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

In a blog post, web hosting provider DreamHost explained how the DOJ issued a warrant demanding that it hand over details on visitors to disruptj20.org. In the post, titled “We Fight For The Users,” DreamHost wrote, “While we have no insight into the affidavit for the search warrant (those records are sealed), the DOJ has recently asked DreamHost to provide all information available to us about this website, its owner, and, more importantly, its visitors.”

Such requests are not uncommon, said DreamHost, adding that the public would be surprised about how many requests it receives from the government to hand over information about web users. The DOJ has asked for IP address, email content, contact information and photos of anyone who visited the site. “That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind,” said DreamHost.

Chris Ghazarian, general counsel for DreamHost, called the move “overreach” and said such a request goes against the First Amendment. “Regardless of your political affiliation, you should be concerned that anyone can be targeted for merely visiting a website legally disseminating political news,” he said. “The only thing this will achieve is to cause fear of exposure when participating in protected associational rights.”

The government has already prosecuted scores of activists for crimes committed on Jan. 20 during protests in Washington DC. Ghazarian said shortly after the protests, DreamHost was approached by the DOJ and agreed to provide “limited” details relating to the owner of the website. In April the DOJ returned to DreamHost, this time demanding information about visitors to the site.

DreamHost said it is now in a position as a “gatekeeper” to protect the government from identifying people it has no right to go after. In a blog post, the Electronic Frontier Foundation called the government’s “digital dragnet” unconstitutional, adding that the move was a “fishing expedition.”

“DreamHost did the right thing: it stood up for its users,” wrote EFF. “It offered the government a chance to narrow the scope of the warrant. And when the government refused, DreamHost went to court.”

A hearing will take place Aug. 18 at the Superior Court in Washington.

Image: Sean P. Anderson via Flickr