ICE Plans Sweeping Social Media Surveillance to Monitor Public Criticism

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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is expanding its digital surveillance capabilities with plans to monitor social media for negative comments about the agency. According to recent contract documents, ICE seeks to track and analyze public sentiment across internet platforms, raising significant concerns about privacy and free speech.

The initiative, revealed in procurement documents, outlines ICE’s intention to hire private contractors for “real-time threat mitigation and monitoring services.” The program would not only track direct threats but also monitor general criticism of the agency and its officials.

Under the proposed system, contractors would employ facial recognition technology and collect extensive personal data, including social security numbers, addresses, and information about family members of individuals flagged by the system. The surveillance would extend to both domestic and international targets.

The contract specifies that contractors must provide regular updates on negative references to ICE across social media platforms, using sentiment analysis to categorize posts as positive, neutral, or negative. Civil liberties experts warn this could lead to the targeting of constitutionally protected speech.

Cinthya Rodriguez from the immigrant rights group Mijente describes the initiative as “beyond concerning,” noting it continues the agency’s pattern of mass surveillance and potential retaliation against activists.

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The program builds on ICE’s existing social media monitoring capabilities, previously handled by federal contractor Giant Oak. While ICE claims the focus is on protecting agency leadership and facilities, critics argue it creates a dangerous precedent for government surveillance of protected speech.

Civil liberties advocate Calli Schroeder warns that combined with current administrative rhetoric, these practices could effectively create a “thought police” scenario, particularly threatening for those exercising their First Amendment rights.

Stay tuned to Newspot Nigeria for updates on this developing news.

Source: Intercept