A Facebook group used to track the movements of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Chicago has been removed from the platform. The action came after former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly stated that the Department of Justice contacted Facebook parent company Meta to have the group taken down. Bondi alleged the group was being utilized to dox and target federal officers. When asked for confirmation, a Meta representative stated that a group was removed for violating company policies against coordinated harm. The spokesperson did not, however, confirm the specific name of the group or verify whether the DOJ was directly involved in the takedown request. This incident is part of a broader pattern where the current administration is pressuring technology companies to remove content it deems critical of its immigration enforcement tactics. In Chicago, ICE officers have reportedly been operating while wearing facial coverings and without name tags. Some agents have been seen in vehicles without license plates. These practices prompted a ruling from a US District Judge, who mandated that all ICE agents who are not undercover must display visible identification while working in the Chicago area. The pressure on tech firms is not limited to Meta. Earlier this month, Apple removed an app called ICEBlock from its App Store following similar demands from Bondi and the DOJ. The ICEBlock app was designed to allow users to track and report the locations of immigration agents. Following the removal of his app from the App Store, ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron criticized Apple’s decision. He stated that capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move. Aaron emphasized that his app’s mission was to protect people from what he described as the terror inflicted by the administration’s immigration policies. These actions highlight the ongoing tension between government requests for content moderation and free speech advocates who see such removals as censorship. The situation continues to develop as the administration expands its efforts to control narratives around its immigration enforcement operations.
