Those three companies and Discord recently received “hundreds” of such requests from DHS. Meta, it should be noted, is the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
Administrative subpoenas used for this purpose represent an increase. According to the Times, the tool, which comes from DHS and not a judge, was previously reserved for situations like child abduction.
The Times says users were targeted because their posts “criticized ICE or pointed to the locations of ICE agents.”
A Google spokesperson responded to the Times with a statement, “When we receive a subpoena, our review process is designed to protect user privacy while meeting our legal obligations,” and “We notify users when their accounts have been subpoenaed, unless under a legal order or in exceptional circumstances. We review every legal demand and push against those that are overbroad.”
Gizmodo requested comment from Meta, Discord, and Reddit. We’ll update if we hear back.
According to the Times, one or multiple of the companies involved have said that they notify users about these requests from DHS, and give them 14 days to “fight the subpoena in court” before complying.
Amazon has also been accused of at least some degree of involvement in ICE’s ongoing mass deportation efforts. In October, Amazon-owned Ring announced a partnership with Flock that will let the AI-powered network loop in content coming from users’ doorbell cameras. According to the 404 Media investigation, that network provides information to law enforcement agencies at the local and federal levels, raising legitimate concerns that ICE has access to all that footage.
Protestors have launched an effort called “Resist and Unsubscribe”, targeting ten tech companies that they view as being exceptionally supportive of ICE. That list includes Meta, Google and Amazon, but not Reddit.
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