The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reportedly issued hundreds of administrative subpoenas to major technology firms in a bid to identify individuals criticising Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) online.
According to a report by The New York Times, the department has approached companies including Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta in recent months.
Homeland Security is said to have requested names, email addresses, telephone numbers and other identifying information linked to accounts that criticised the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency or reported the whereabouts of its officers.
Google, Meta and Reddit have complied with some of the demands.
Administrative Subpoenas and Growing Privacy Concerns
Administrative subpoenas differ from warrants in that they are issued directly by the DHS rather than approved by a judge. The Times reported that such tools were historically used sparingly and largely in investigations involving serious offences, including child trafficking.
However, the paper said their use has increased significantly over the past year.
“It’s a whole other level of frequency and lack of accountability,” Steve Loney, a senior supervising attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, told the publication.
Companies are not automatically required to comply. Some allow affected users up to 14 days to challenge the subpoena in court.
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Google told The Times that its review process for government requests is “ designed to protect user privacy while meeting [its] legal obligations” and that it informs users when their accounts have been subpoenaed unless it has been legally ordered not to or in exceptional circumstances.
“We review every legal demand and push back against those that are overbroad,” the company said.
ICE Location Posts in Pennsylvania Spark Legal Challenge
Among the targeted accounts were users posting about ICE activity in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on Facebook and Instagram, in both English and Spanish.
The DHS reportedly asked Meta for their details on 11 September, with users notified on 3 October. They were informed that unless Meta received documentation within 10 days confirming they were contesting the subpoena in court, the company would hand over the requested information.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a court motion on behalf of the users, arguing that the DHS is using administrative subpoenas as a means to suppress speech from individuals it disagrees with.
ICE List Website and App Store Scrutiny
Separately, in late January, Meta began blocking links to ICE List, a website publishing the names of thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents.
In Congress, House Judiciary Committee member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) recently asked Apple and Google to provide all communications with the US Department of Justice concerning the removal of ICE-tracking applications from their app stores.
The developments come amid heightened debate over immigration enforcement, online speech and the responsibilities of technology companies in responding to government data requests.
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