The government requests names and information of those who speak ill of ICE
According to The New York Times, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is sending hundreds of administrative subpoenas to large platforms. They ask for detailed information on accounts that criticize the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The government is taking more liberties than before,” Steve Loney, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Times. “It’s a whole different level of frequency and lack of accountability.”
Technology companies in the middle
Google, Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and Reddit have complied with some of these requests. The subpoenas ask to identify users with anonymous profiles who have indicated agent locations or criticized operations.
The companies say they review each order and notify those affected, giving them between 10 and 14 days to challenge it in court. But the discretion is wide.
“When we receive a subpoena, our process is designed to protect privacy and comply with our legal obligations,” a Google spokesperson told the newspaper.
Meta, Reddit, and Discord declined to comment. DHS, for its part, simply said that it has “broad administrative authority” to issue these subpoenas.
It is not the first time, but the frequency is worrying
This smacks of a dangerous precedent. In 2017, Twitter (now X) sued the federal government to stop a similar subpoena against an account critical of Trump. They won: the subpoena was withdrawn.
The difference now is scale: hundreds of requests in months. And the political context: The so-called “border czar” Tom Homan spoke last month on Fox News about creating a “database” of people who interfere with operations.
What they don’t say is how they define “interference.” Does a tweet pointing out a raid count? A publication criticizing immigration policy? The line between national security and repression of dissent seems increasingly blurred.
And meanwhile, anonymous users who thought they were protected behind a pseudonym discover that their digital identity may have feet of clay when the government comes knocking—with a subpoena in hand.
