Where’s the dog, Kristi?
It’s not fascism. No. It’s simply Donald Trump’s bootlicks paying attention to this matter. And to that matter. And the other matter. And especially to your matter (The New York Times):
The Department of Homeland Security is expanding its efforts to identify Americans who oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement by sending tech companies legal requests for the names, email addresses, telephone numbers and other identifying data behind social media accounts that track or criticize the agency.
Sources tell the Times that Team Dogslayer is hitting major social media companies (but not X) with hundreds of administrative subpoenas. DHS is asking for identifying details about anonymous accounts that track and criticize ICE. Google, Meta and Reddit have complied with some requests per four government officials and tech employees. The Times has seen two sent to Meta in the last six months.
Taking more liberties
The tech companies, which can choose whether or not to provide the information, have said they review government requests before complying. Some of the companies notified the people whom the government had requested data on and gave them 10 to 14 days to fight the subpoena in court.
“The government is taking more liberties than they used to,” said Steve Loney, a senior supervising attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. “It’s a whole other level of frequency and lack of accountability.” Over the last six months, Mr. Loney has represented people whose social media account information was sought by the Department of Homeland Security.
A little double entendre there with “taking more liberties.” (No mention of WordPress or our hosting service, so I guess we’re safe here. For now.)
The department said it had “broad administrative subpoena authority” but did not address questions about its requests. In court, its lawyers have argued that they are seeking information to help keep ICE agents in the field safe.
ICE agents in the field simply open fire.
The Trump administration has aggressively tried tamping down criticism of ICE, partly by identifying Americans who have demonstrated against the agency. ICE agents told protesters in Minneapolis and Chicago that they were being recorded and identified with facial recognition technology. Last month, Tom Homan, the White House border czar, also said on Fox News that he was pushing to “create a database” of people who were “arrested for interference, impeding and assault.”
Now sounds like a good time to invest in anti facial recognition makeup. But then again, no.
