Lawmakers on Wednesday demanded that tech companies reveal how much data about their users had been handed over to the Department of Homeland Security, according to letters sent by the House Committee on Homeland Security to the firms.
The letters cited reporting by The New York Times that found tech companies have been flooded with requests from the Department of Homeland Security for the names, email addresses and other identifying data behind social media accounts that track or criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, were among the companies that received what are known as administrative subpoenas from the agency, The Times found.
“Considering the sensitive information social media companies maintain about their users, it is imperative that social media companies protect their users’ privacy and free speech rights and do not share user information,” said the letters, which were signed by three Democratic House members on the Homeland Security Committee: Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, J. Luis Correa of California and Shri Thanedar of Michigan.
The letters, copies of which were viewed by The Times, were sent to Apple, Amazon, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and X. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The letters asked the tech companies to reveal how many administrative subpoenas they had received and what type of information was requested. The lawmakers also asked the companies how many times they complied and how they notified people if their data was being requested.
Administrative subpoenas do not require a judge’s approval. In the past, the Department of Homeland Security issued the subpoenas sparingly, primarily to uncover the people behind social media accounts engaged in serious crimes such as child trafficking. But last year, the department ramped up their use to unmask anonymous social media accounts.
After The Times reported on the subpoenas, Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Representative Adriano Espaillat, Democrat of New York, said they would introduce a bill to restrict the use of administrative subpoenas.
“DHS is abusing administrative subpoenas to target and silence its critics,” Mr. Wyden posted on social media last week, citing The Times’s reporting. “@RepEspaillat and I will be introducing legislation that would make this practice illegal and help end these authoritarian abuses.”
Sheera Frenkel is a reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area, covering the ways technology affects everyday lives with a focus on social media companies, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp.
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