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US Homeland Security is reportedly seeking personal data of individuals behind social media accounts critical of ICE agents. Tech giants like Google and Meta have received numerous legal requests for user information, citing officer safety concerns. Companies review these demands, sometimes notifying users and offering a chance to contest the subpoenas in court.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reportedly launched a campaign to identify the people behind social media accounts that track or criticise Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The New York Times resorts that tech giants including Google, Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram, Reddit, and Discord have received hundreds of legal requests or administrative subpoenas, demanding the names, email addresses, telephone numbers and other identifying data of account holders who post about the agency’s movements.As per government lawyers, these requests are an important factor in officer safety.
They claim that when such social media accounts post the exact locations of ICE agents, it creates a threat to the officers and interferes with their ability to do their jobs.Sarah Balkissoon, a Department of Justice lawyer, stated in court that the government has the power to “investigate threats to its own officers or impediments to their officers.”
Tech companies can ‘reject’ request
The New York Times says that it has seen two subpoenas that were sent to Meta over the last six months, and that the tech companies can choose whether or not to provide the information.
The companies say they review government requests before complying while some of them notified the people whom the government had requested data on and gave them 10 to 14 days to fight the subpoena in court.For example, in September last year, DHS demanded that Meta hand over the personal details of the people running those accounts. Meta followed its standard policy, and notified the users of two Instagram and Facebook accounts, and gave them a short window to fight the request in court.“We have received legal process from law enforcement seeking information about your Facebook account,” the notification said, according to court records. “If we do not receive a copy of documentation that you have filed in court challenging this legal process within ten (10) days, we will respond to the requesting agency with information,” it added.Google, meanwhile, said that it reviews subpoenas, and inform the users.“When we receive a subpoena, our review process is designed to protect user privacy while meeting our legal obligations,” a Google spokeswoman said. “We inform users when their accounts have been subpoenaed, unless under legal order not to or in an exceptional circumstance. We review every legal demand and push back against those that are overbroad,” the company added.
English (US) ·