Anonymous no more? U.S. Homeland Security pushes to identify ICE critics

The Department of Homeland Security has significantly expanded its use of administrative subpoenas to obtain identifying information on social media users who criticize or track Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a report by The New York Times.

In recent months, companies including Google, Meta, Reddit and Discord have received hundreds of legal requests seeking names, email addresses, phone numbers and other identifying data tied to anonymous accounts that post about ICE activities, the Times reported, citing government officials and tech employees familiar with the matter.

Some of the requests targeted accounts that criticized ICE operations or shared information about the locations of immigration agents in the field. The Times said it reviewed two subpoenas sent to Meta within the last six months.

Government officials told the publication that Google, Meta and Reddit complied with certain requests. Under administrative subpoena authority, the Department of Homeland Security can issue such demands without obtaining approval from a judge.

The department said it has “broad administrative subpoena authority,” but declined to address specific questions about the scope of its requests. In court filings, government lawyers argued that the information is being sought to protect ICE agents from potential threats or interference.

Civil liberties advocates say the frequency and breadth of the subpoenas mark a shift.

“The government is taking more liberties than they used to,” Steve Loney, a senior supervising attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, told the Times. “It’s a whole other level of frequency and lack of accountability.”

According to the report, several tech platforms reviewed the legal demands before responding. In some cases, companies notified users whose data had been requested and gave them a window of 10 to 14 days to challenge the subpoena in court.

Google said its review process is designed to balance privacy protections with legal compliance, adding that it notifies users unless prohibited by law and pushes back against overly broad demands.

The Times reported that administrative subpoenas were previously used sparingly, often in investigations involving serious crimes such as human trafficking. But over the past year, the Department of Homeland Security has increased their use to identify anonymous accounts focused on immigration enforcement activity.

In one case cited by the Times, the department issued subpoenas to Meta seeking information about Instagram accounts that posted updates about ICE raids in California. Those requests were later withdrawn after being challenged in court.

A similar effort targeted social media accounts in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, that shared alerts about ICE sightings. After the accounts were notified of the subpoena, the ACLU filed a motion to quash the request. The government ultimately withdrew it before a judge ruled.

The broader backdrop, the Times noted, includes heightened tensions around immigration enforcement. ICE agents have told demonstrators in cities such as Minneapolis and Chicago that they were being recorded and identified through facial recognition tools. Meanwhile, White House border czar Tom Homan recently said he was pushing to create a database of individuals arrested for interfering with immigration operations.

Transparency reports from major tech firms show that government requests for user data globally have risen over the years, with the United States among the top requesters.