Meta has begun blocking Instagram and Facebook users from sharing links to the “ICE List,” a website that publishes information about people it identifies as employees of U.S. immigration enforcement agencies, according to multiple media reports Tuesday.
Created last year, the ICE List site says its goal is to hold government officials accountable by documenting the identities and activities of agents working for agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol.
Wired first reported the Meta blackout. Dominick Skinner, creator of the ICE List site, told the outlet that links had circulated on Meta-owned platforms for more than six months without restriction. He said its volunteers first reported problems late Monday.
Wired and other tech sites confirmed that links to the ICE List were blocked on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Links could still be shared through WhatsApp, another Meta product, according to the reports.
Different warnings popped up Tuesday depending on the platform. Facebook noted the post appeared to be spam under community guidelines; on Threads, the link disappeared immediately with a “Link not allowed” notice; and Instagram users attempting to post on Stories were shown a message stating the activity was restricted.
Company spokesman Andy Stone told Wired the action was tied to company policies on sharing personally identifiable information. Meta declined Tuesday to make an additional statement.
The ICE List operates with a small core team and hundreds of anonymous contributors, Skinner told Wired. The project drew attention earlier this month after it claimed to have uploaded a leaked list of roughly 4,500 DHS employees.
The Meta block comes amid increased scrutiny of online efforts to track the movements and identities of law enforcement officers. The Trump administration has previously warned that publishing or crowdsourcing information about immigration agents could amount to illegal “doxing” and has pressed technology companies to restrict such activity.
Meta did not say whether the block was temporary or permanent, or whether the ICE List domain had been formally designated as violating company policy.
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