Khaberni - The US Department of Homeland Security has resorted to social media platforms to discover and track users who oppose the recent actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, actions that have upset many users across the platforms.
A report published by "The New York Times" revealed that these efforts have extended to uncovering names, phone numbers, and emails of users with fake accounts on various platforms.
This step comes in the wake of extensive efforts by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to track its opponents, with previous reports revealing the establishment of whole teams dedicated to monitoring social media platforms around the clock.
But to what extent is the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement prepared to invade the privacy and lives of American users?
Hundreds of Administrative Summonses
"The New York Times" report confirms that social media companies like "Google", "Reddit", "Discord", and "Meta" received hundreds of summonses and administrative orders directly from the US Department of Homeland Security in the past months to disclose data and information about users opposing the actions of Immigration and Customs.
The Department of Homeland Security did not resort to any judicial body to issue such administrative orders, as they were sent directly from it to the companies, which is a matter reserved for severe and major crimes such as child kidnapping, according to the report.
Social media platforms have the option to provide the data directly to the security authorities or they can refuse to do so. While "Meta", "Reddit", and "Discord" have not commented on this matter, "Google" affirmed through their spokesperson that they review each notice individually in dedicated meetings.
The company also alerts the user concerned with the notice to give them a chance to object and confront the notice in court so as not to surrender their data directly to the Department, as long as the notice does not state otherwise, according to the report.
Steve Looney, a supervising lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union in Pennsylvania, believes that the US government is overstepping its bounds when it comes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, adding in his discussion with "The New York Times": "It's a completely different level of repetition and lack of accountability".
Full Monitoring of Social Media Platforms
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement aimed to implement a comprehensive surveillance system on social media platforms to discover posts opposing it in addition to targeting its subsequent attacks.
This system primarily relies on special teams employed by the administration and operates to monitor social media platforms around the clock and throughout the week, according to a separate report published by the tech site "Wired".
Another report published by the American investigative site "404 Media" (404Media) revealed the existence of a monitoring tool used by Immigration and Customs to monitor social media platforms and telephones in a specific area, whether small neighborhoods or large parts of cities revealing users' residences, workplaces, and frequently visited places.
Nathan Freed Wessler, Deputy Director of the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, stated in his discussion with "404 Media" that the existence of such a tool is very dangerous in the hands of an organization that has already exceeded acceptable bounds, in his words.
Complete Prohibition
Immigration and Customs Enforcement took a completely different approach with "TikTok" (TikTok), a platform acquired by billionaire Larry Ellison, who has good relations with the administration of President Donald Trump.
A report published by "CNN" (CNN) revealed that "TikTok" users are unable to upload clips that oppose, mock, or denounce the actions issued by the US Immigration Administration.
This was one of the reasons that led hundreds of users to switch to the platform "Upscrolled" (Upscrolled) contributing to its widespread success in recent weeks, according to the report.
Furthermore, the report notes that "TikTok" immediately banned their accounts following their publication of a series of clips opposing the administration, an occurrence that did not happen before completing the deal between the Chinese "TikTok" administration and Larry Ellison.
On their part, the "TikTok" administration confirmed that the removal of these clips is due to technical errors in the American data centers as a result of data transfer to them instead of the Chinese centers, which was criticized by "TikTok" users, according to the report, pointing out that such issues did not happen previously.
