The Department of Homeland Security is pressuring tech companies to disclose the identities behind social media accounts that criticize or track Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, say officials and tech employees familiar with the requests. Over the past several months, Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas, the New York Times reports. The subpoenas, which do not require a judge's approval, have asked for names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other details tied to anonymous accounts that either post critical commentary about ICE or share information about agents' locations. Efforts to resist have begun.
DHS maintains it has broad authority to issue such subpoenas and has argued in court that unmasking account holders is part of an effort to protect ICE officers in the field. Civil liberties advocates counter that the practice represents a significant expansion of a tool once used sparingly, typically in serious criminal cases such as child trafficking. "The government is taking more liberties than they used to," said Steve Loney of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, who has represented users targeted by the requests and describes a "whole other level of frequency and lack of accountability."
Whether the tech companies turn over the information is up to them, per the Times. Google, Meta, and Reddit complied with at least some of the requests and said they review every demand and sometimes alert users so they can challenge the subpoenas in court. Some have. A lawsuit filed this week by a free speech organization charges that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are coercing the companies to take down content in an effort "to control what the public can see, hear, or say about ICE operations," per Ars Technica. An earlier suit, from the creator of the ICEBlock warning app, argues that DHS is using its regulatory power to suppress protected speech.
The platforms aren't doing enough to shield users, advocates say, citing examples of compliance with orders that provide little justification. Meta began blocking links to ICE List, a site containing ICE and Border Patrol agents' names, late last month, per Engadget. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin has asked the Justice Department for all communication it's had with Apple and Google about removing apps used to share sightings of ICE agents.
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