US Department of Homeland Security has reportedly demanded personal information about ICE's critics from Discord, Reddit, Google, and Meta—and at least 3 of those platforms have complied

Detail of the US Homeland Security on a computer screen — (Image credit: Getty Images / MarioGuti)

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 behind accounts 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 or identified 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.

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.

Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.