Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has implemented restrictions preventing users on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads from sharing links to the “ICE List” database that purports to contain identifying information of thousands of ICE agents, the company confirmed this week.
Politico reports that Meta has implemented restrictions preventing users on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads from sharing links to a database that purports to contain identifying information of thousands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the company confirmed this week. The social media giant cited privacy violations as the basis for blocking access to the website known as “ICE List.”
Users attempting to share the database on Facebook as of Tuesday afternoon received warnings that their posts violated the platform’s community standards. Those trying to share the links on Instagram and Threads encountered messages indicating their posts failed to upload. The blocking mechanism effectively prevents the spread of the website across Meta’s family of social media applications.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone referenced the company’s community standards regarding privacy violations, which explicitly prohibit the sharing or soliciting of personally identifiable information. The policy forms the foundation of Meta’s decision to restrict access to the database across its platforms.
Leftist tech outlet Wired first reported the blocks on ICE List links on Tuesday, bringing attention to Meta’s enforcement action against the database. ICE List operates as a website that claims to compile names and photographs of Department of Homeland Security employees. Dominick Skinner, the founder of the website, previously explained to Politico in July of last year that he established the platform as a mechanism to hold ICE agents accountable for potential abuses of power. Skinner positioned the project as a transparency initiative aimed at governmental oversight.
The Trump administration has characterized the ICE List project as doxing officers and creating dangerous situations that put their lives at risk. The Department of Homeland Security did not provide immediate comment when contacted for this story. “If there’s a policy violation, we are the only one flagged, despite other sites sharing more,” Skinner said in an email statement.
Breitbart News previously reported that Apple removed ICE trackers from its app store following pressure from the Trump administration:
Apple has removed several apps from its App Store that were designed to help users track and avoid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The most notable app among these was ICEBlock, a service with hundreds of thousands of users eager to identify federal agents enforcing immigration law. ICEBlock allowed users to anonymously share the locations of ICE agents within a five-mile radius and had recommended the App Store as the safest platform to download and use the app.
Apple’s decision comes in the wake of intense pressure from the Trump administration, which had issued multiple legal threats against the use and promotion of ICEBlock. In a statement, Apple confirmed that it had taken down ICEBlock and other similar apps after being contacted by “law enforcement,” although it did not specify the specific agencies involved or the names of the other apps removed.
Read more at Politico here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
Read the full article here
