In recent months, the US Department of Homeland Security has issued hundreds of administrative subpoenas to Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta to obtain the identifying information of individuals that track or criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, according to New York Times reporting.
According to four federal officials and tech industry workers who spoke on condition of anonymity, the issued subpoenas requested that the companies provide names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and other data that could be used to identify Americans who publicly decry ICE and identify the locations of its agents.
Of the subpoenaed platforms—which can choose whether or not to supply the requested information—Google, Meta, and Reddit have complied with some of the requests. Some of the accountholders in question were informed that the DHS had requested their information, and were given 10 to 14 days to challenge the subpoena in court.
“When we receive a subpoena, our review process is designed to protect user privacy while meeting our legal obligations,” a Google spokesperson told the New York Times. “We inform users when their accounts have been subpoenaed, unless under legal order to not do so or in exceptional circumstances. We review every legal demand and push back against those that are overbroad.”
The US government’s efforts to identify Americans who oppose its actions coincide with rising fears about online surveillance and privacy, as some of the companies being issued subpoenas are the same companies requiring users to provide private information.
Last week, Discord announced the rollout of a new age assurance policy, which will limit some users to a ’teen’ experience unless they verify their age by scanning either their faces or government IDs. Some users have been informed that their age verification would be processed as part of “an experiment” with Persona, an age verification provider whose major funders include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, which likewise invests heavily in ICE surveillance contractor Palantir.
Persona also processes age verification data for Reddit, which the New York Times reports has complied with DHS subpoenas. PC Gamer has contacted Discord and Reddit for comment, and we’ll update if we receive a response.
