US Homeland Security is demanding names and other details of ICE critics from Meta, Google, and other tech platforms

Tech platforms

• DHS subpoenaed tech firms for data on ICE critics
• Meta, Google, Reddit complied with some requests for user info
• ACLU argues subpoenas suppress speech, not just investigate crime

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The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly been issuing a growing number of administrative subpoenas to major technology companies, seeking identifying information on users who have posted content critical of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to a report by The New York Times, Homeland Security has sent hundreds of such subpoenas in recent months to platforms including Google, Meta, Reddit and Discord. The requests have sought names, email addresses, phone numbers and other identifying details tied to accounts that criticised ICE or shared information about the location of its agents.

Unlike warrants, administrative subpoenas are issued directly by DHS and do not require approval from a judge. Historically, their use was relatively limited and typically associated with investigations into serious crimes such as child trafficking. However, civil liberties groups say their use has sharply increased over the past year.

“It’s a whole other level of frequency and lack of accountability,” Steve Loney, a senior supervising attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Times.

Companies are not automatically required to comply with administrative subpoenas, and some provide users with a limited window to challenge the request in court. Google told the publication that it reviews every government demand and aims to balance legal obligations with user privacy, adding that it notifies users unless legally prohibited from doing so or in exceptional cases.

Meta, Google and Reddit have reportedly complied with some of the requests.

Several of the affected accounts belonged to users in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, who were posting updates about ICE activity on Facebook and Instagram in both English and Spanish. DHS requested their details from Meta on September 11, and the users were notified on October 3. They were given 10 days to provide proof that they were contesting the subpoena before Meta would hand over the requested information.

The ACLU has since filed a motion on behalf of the users, arguing that DHS is using administrative subpoenas as a tool to suppress speech it disagrees with, rather than to investigate criminal activity.

The controversy comes amid broader tensions between tech platforms and US authorities over ICE-related content. In late January, Meta began blocking links to ICE List, a website that publishes the names of thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents. Separately, Democratic lawmaker Jamie Raskin has asked Apple and Google to turn over communications with the US Department of Justice as part of an investigation into the removal of ICE-tracking apps from their app stores.