The Department of Homeland Security has expanded efforts to identify Americans who criticize or track Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sending hundreds of legal requests to major tech companies seeking information behind social media accounts, according to a report in The New York Times.
In recent months, DHS has issued administrative subpoenas to Google, Meta, Reddit, and Discord requesting names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying data tied to accounts that comment on or monitor ICE activity. Four government officials and tech employees familiar with the requests told The Times the subpoenas have targeted accounts that lack real names and have criticized ICE or shared the locations of agents.
The Times reviewed two subpoenas sent to Meta over the past six months.
“Google, Meta and Reddit complied with some of the requests, the government officials said,” according to the Friday report. “The tech companies, which can choose whether or not to provide the information, have said they review government requests before complying.”
In some cases, users were notified and given 10 to 14 days to challenge the subpoenas in court.
“The government is taking more liberties than they used to,” said Steve Loney, a senior supervising attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. “It’s a whole other level of frequency and lack of accountability.”
DHS said it has “broad administrative subpoena authority” but declined to answer questions about the scope of the requests. In court, department lawyers under the Trump administration have argued the subpoenas are necessary to protect ICE agents in the field.
DOJ attorney Sarah Balkissoon said DHS was acting “within their power to investigate threats to its own officers or impediments to their officers,” according to court documents reviewed by the Times.
A Google spokesperson said the company’s review process “is designed to protect user privacy while meeting our legal obligations.” Meta, Reddit, and Discord declined to comment.
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