The Department of Homeland Security has been sending subpoenas to various tech companies for information on accounts that oppose or track ICE operations.
Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas from the Department of Homeland Security in recent months, according to four government officials and tech employees privy to the requests, speaking on conditions of anonymity.
Google, Reddit and Meta complied with some of those subpoenas, which were asking for identifying details of accounts that do not have a person’s name attached, have criticized ICE, or have pointed out locations of ICE agents.
The tech companies can choose whether or not to provide the information after reviewing the government requests. Some chose to notify the account holders, giving them 10-14 days to fight the subpoenas in court.
“When we receive a subpoena, our review process is designed to protect user privacy while meeting our legal obligations,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. “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.”
Unlike arrest warrants, which require a judge’s approval, administrative subpoenas are issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
They have been sparingly used in the past to uncover those behind serious crimes such as child trafficking, but DHS has stepped up their efforts to uncover anonymous social media accounts, according to tech employees.
As an example, an administrative subpoena was sent to Meta to identify Instagram accounts that posted warnings about ICE raids in California, according to the ACLU. Those subpoenas were challenged in court and DHS withdrew the requests before a judge could make a ruling.
A spokesperson for the ACLU says that avoiding a judge’s ruling is advantageous to DHS so they can continue issuing subpoenas, keeping the pressure on private individuals to go to court.