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- ICE has asked many social media platforms to hand over data about users who are critical of its agents and operations
- Tech companies complied, but now await Democratic-led investigations into their compliance after the midterm elections
- Executives want to protect themselves from congressional inquiries into their behavior
The US midterm elections are just days away, and big tech companies like Google and Meta are already quietly defying Trump’s order to hand over data on users who have criticized his stance on immigration.
The incumbent party usually loses seats in midterm elections, and with a wave of Democratic governorships potentially on the horizon, tech companies are trying to avoid future scrutiny.
“They have to be prepared to say under oath why they did what they did,” said Rep. Shri Thanedar (D., Mich.), referring to an investigation into companies that have complied with the Trump administration’s notices.
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T&C Update: Your data may be handed over to the authorities
Many technology companies with platforms on which people have expressed critical views on Trump’s handling of immigration policy have begun updating their terms of use to include transparency about how user data can be handed over to authorities.
Much of the criticism centered around how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted operations to investigate illegal immigrants.
As a recent breach by the Department of Homeland Security exposed, ICE agents conducted undercover surveillance operations of protesters, critics and journalists through denial.
The DHS also expanded its definition of doxing — the disclosure of personal information such as a home address for malicious purposes — to include names and titles. Social media platforms and search engines such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, TikTok and X were then scoured by ICE to identify anything they considered a threat to its agents or operations.
Many of these platforms have been handed over to administrative investigations that do not require the approval of a judge. Citizen journalists with channels on YouTube have also been targeted by ICE, with requests to hand over personal information from clients.
“Violence, threats and conspiracies to impede law enforcement operations are not protected by the First Amendment,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said.
People familiar with the matter said Wall Street Journal that DHS has increased the number of grand jury subpoenas issued to platforms that handle user data that carry severe consequences for non-compliance.
To prepare for potential Democratic inquiries into how technology companies have responded to such calls, some companies have delayed or pushed back on some requests to help insulate themselves from investigations.
A letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the acting head of the Government Accountability Office, accused the ICE of using orders to “monitor, intimidate, and suppress the free speech of ordinary citizens and even the free press.”
An ICE spokesman said WSJ that all its operations are “conducted in accordance with applicable law and policy.”
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