The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is increasing pressure on technology companies to disclose the identities of owners of social media accounts critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a report in the New York Times.
This approach echoes other recent related reports. Bloomberg previously identified five cases in which the Department of Homeland Security attempted to identify the owners of anonymous Instagram accounts, but the department withdrew its subpoenas after the account owners filed lawsuits. A Washington Post report described the Department of Homeland Security's increasingly frequent use of administrative subpoenas, which do not require a judge's approval, to target Americans.
The New York Times has now revealed that this approach, used more sparingly in the past, has become increasingly common in recent months, with the Department of Homeland Security issuing hundreds of such subpoenas to companies including Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta. According to reports, these subpoenas mainly target accounts that are not registered with real names and either criticize ICE or describe the location of ICE agents.
Google, Meta and Reddit reportedly cooperated in at least some cases. Google reiterated its past stance, saying it will notify users of these subpoenas when possible and fight them if they are "overly broad."