US AG Pam Bondi says that Meta complied with the DOJ's request to take down a Facebook Page that the agency said was being used to harass ICE agents in Chicago
and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again.” Secretary Kristi Noem / @sec_noem : Anti-ICE radicals are using social media apps to dox, threaten, and terrorize the brave men and women of ICE and their families. Today, thanks to @POTUS Trump's @TheJusticeDept under the leadership of @AGPamBondi, Facebook removed a large page being used to dox and threaten our ICE agents in Chicago...Platforms like Facebook must be PROACTIVE in stopping the doxxing of our @ICEgov law enforcement... Matt DeLuca / @mattdeluca : There's no 1a right to incite violence which is what doxxing is...this isn't jawboning David Dayen / @ddayen : Maybe someday we'll get the emails where the federal government demanded that a private company engage in content moderation and banning of speech. We can call it The Facebook Files or something Matthew Segal / @segalmr : People say that First Amendment law is tricky but it's actually quite simple: If politicians you like do this, it's *outreach.* If politicians you dislike do this, it's *censorship.* Michael Tracey / @mtracey : Lol, of course — now it's cool again for the federal government to coerce social media companies into removing content the government deems harmful Andy Ngo / @mrandyngo : @AGPamBondi They will immediately open up other accounts and start again. These are highly motivated open border, anti-US government extremists. @wilson__valdez : Wow, thoughts @mtaibbi? This is your bread and butter issue. Let's hear it! Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : The federal government pressuring private companies to remove lawful speech... now where have I heard this before Joseph Frusci / @proffrusci : The hypocrisy!!! When the Biden adm reached out to Facebook to remove pages of Covid disinformation it caused Zuckerberg to argue for free speech in America. Now, the Trump adm reaches out to remove ICE information and Facebook complies with Zuckerberg remaining silent. Robert Young Pelton / @ryp__ : Anyone remember when Elon insisted that social media was a government stooge? Anyone? @chipgibbons89 : This has to be one of the most clear cut examples of government pressuring social media to censor First Amendment protected content I've ever seen. Joe Walsh / @walshfreedom : The most anti-free speech administration in American history strikes again. And btw, before you yell, please know that's it's perfectly legal to publicly post the location of any ICE raid or ICE activities. That's protected speech. @emptywheel : Say, @pambondi? Does this mean you'll arrest Laura Loomer for doxing and targeting FBI agents and AUSAs? Or, on top of violating the First Amendment, are you doing it selectively, protecting just some LE? @emptywheel : BREAKING: @PamBondi allowing TPUSA to dangerously dox college professors but censoring the speech of those she favors. Also, she's lying about there even BEING a wave of violence. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick / @reichlinmelnick : I remember when it was a massive scandal on the right when government officials asked some platforms to take down posts they felt were spreading dangerous COVID misinformation that might endanger the lives of Americans. Laura N. Rodríguez Presa / @laura_n_rod : The page removed practically served as a way for people find out when their loved ones had been taken. Most people shared videos and pictures after ICE agents had already left the area. Mehdi Hasan / @mehdirhasan : “Following outreach from the Justice Department” They're bragging about their social media censorship efforts. I'm sure @mtaibbi and @bariweiss and the rest of the ‘Twitter Files’ crew will be all over this, right? Right?? Ari Cohn / @aricohn : Discussion of where ICE has been spotted operating, and even the identities of agents, is protected by the First Amendment. If there's a true threat, you prosecute that. But you cannot silence lawful speech, or pressure platforms to, because you're worried it might be “misused.” Sam Stein / @samstein : amazing. When the Biden adm reached out to Facebook to take down pages filled with Covid disinformation it caused Zuckerberg to decry a full assault on free speech in America. Now, the Trump adm reaches out to remove ICE information and Facebook complies Nu Wexler / @wexler : We had a bunch of Congressional hearings on government officials pressuring social platforms to remove content they didn't like. Billy Binion / @billybinion : What an amazing admission. Republicans sued Biden—and went to the Supreme Court—for pressuring social media companies to censor content. This is...exactly that. So many people only care about the First Amendment when they aren't in power. Forums: r/news : Facebook takes down page that Justice Department says was used to harass ICE agents
ReutersJames Oliphant
Context & Ripple Effects
The removal extends a recent run of federal pressure on platform distribution of ICE-related material: Apple removed ICEBlock after a DOJ request, while the subsequent removal of Eyes Up raised a sharper distinction between real-time officer-location tools and archival documentation.
For Meta, the case moves that debate onto Facebook and centers the claimed use of a page to target agents, rather than a platform-wide policy announced through the Oversight Board or Congress.
First-order effects
Meta has removed the identified Facebook Page, cutting off its operators’ access to that Facebook distribution channel after the DOJ’s request.
The Justice Department has demonstrated that it can obtain a platform response to an alleged harassment case without a reported new statute, rule, or court order.
Second-order effects
Other platforms handling ICE-related reporting, advocacy, or location-sharing content may face more DOJ requests and will need to draw operational lines between alleged doxxing or threats and lawful documentation; Apple’s earlier ICEBlock removal after a DOJ request is the closest precedent in this coverage.
Meta’s moderation teams may face greater pressure to document how they assess government referrals, since the enforcement rationale involves both safety claims and First Amendment concerns.
Third-order effects
If such requests become routine, platform trust-and-safety decisions could increasingly be shaped by informal government referrals rather than transparent, generally applicable rules—making the boundary between public information and targeted harassment a recurring governance issue.
The pattern may renew debate over when platforms should be accountable for user content versus able to set their own enforcement standards, a question previously tied to proposed changes to Section 230’s liability protections.
The trend: Government pressure on major platforms is becoming a more consequential channel for policing content that officials characterize as threats or doxxing, especially around politically charged law-enforcement activity.
Today following outreach from @thejusticedept , Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target @ICEgov agents in Chicago. The wave of violence against ICE has been driven by online apps and social media campaigns designed to put ICE officers at risk ju…
Fantastic news. DOJ source tells me they have seen my report and they have contacted Facebook and their executives at META to tell them they need to remove these ICE tracking pages from the platform. We will see if they comply. There are DOZENS of pages like the one below that
BOOM 💥 @AGPamBondi had a Facebook group who was Doxxing ICE agts in Chicago taken down I'm calling on Bondi to go one step further and arrest whoever opened up the acct [video]
The thing is, the administration has rendered the term “doxxing” almost meaningless by applying it to a range of constitutionally protected speech, such as noting the presence of law enforcement agents performing their duties in public.
Im sorry did you not spend the last couple years crying about DHS doing exactly this? Pressuring social media companies to suppress Americans' speech? #twitterfiles Absolute babies.
Zuckerberg in a letter last year: “... I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction — and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again.”
Anti-ICE radicals are using social media apps to dox, threaten, and terrorize the brave men and women of ICE and their families. Today, thanks to @POTUS Trump's @TheJusticeDept under the leadership of @AGPamBondi, Facebook removed a large page being used to dox and threaten our …
Maybe someday we'll get the emails where the federal government demanded that a private company engage in content moderation and banning of speech. We can call it The Facebook Files or something
People say that First Amendment law is tricky but it's actually quite simple: If politicians you like do this, it's *outreach.* If politicians you dislike do this, it's *censorship.*
The hypocrisy!!! When the Biden adm reached out to Facebook to remove pages of Covid disinformation it caused Zuckerberg to argue for free speech in America. Now, the Trump adm reaches out to remove ICE information and Facebook complies with Zuckerberg remaining silent.
The most anti-free speech administration in American history strikes again. And btw, before you yell, please know that's it's perfectly legal to publicly post the location of any ICE raid or ICE activities. That's protected speech.
Say, @pambondi? Does this mean you'll arrest Laura Loomer for doxing and targeting FBI agents and AUSAs? Or, on top of violating the First Amendment, are you doing it selectively, protecting just some LE?
BREAKING: @PamBondi allowing TPUSA to dangerously dox college professors but censoring the speech of those she favors. Also, she's lying about there even BEING a wave of violence.
I remember when it was a massive scandal on the right when government officials asked some platforms to take down posts they felt were spreading dangerous COVID misinformation that might endanger the lives of Americans.
The page removed practically served as a way for people find out when their loved ones had been taken. Most people shared videos and pictures after ICE agents had already left the area.
“Following outreach from the Justice Department” They're bragging about their social media censorship efforts. I'm sure @mtaibbi and @bariweiss and the rest of the ‘Twitter Files’ crew will be all over this, right? Right??
Discussion of where ICE has been spotted operating, and even the identities of agents, is protected by the First Amendment. If there's a true threat, you prosecute that. But you cannot silence lawful speech, or pressure platforms to, because you're worried it might be “misused.”
amazing. When the Biden adm reached out to Facebook to take down pages filled with Covid disinformation it caused Zuckerberg to decry a full assault on free speech in America. Now, the Trump adm reaches out to remove ICE information and Facebook complies
What an amazing admission. Republicans sued Biden—and went to the Supreme Court—for pressuring social media companies to censor content. This is...exactly that. So many people only care about the First Amendment when they aren't in power.