The U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has complied with a request to remove a page that was allegedly being used to harass Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Chicago. Attorney General Pam Bondi highlighted the page’s role in an intimidation effort directed at about 200 ICE officers who recently arrived in the city as part of intensified immigration enforcement initiatives under the Trump administration. The page was said to be involved in “doxxing,” a practice that involves disclosing personal information about individuals online.
Meta confirmed the removal of the page, stating it was taken down for violating their policies against coordinated harm. However, both Meta and the DOJ refrained from providing further details about the content of the page, and access for external review was not made available.
In a related move reflecting similar pressures, Apple recently removed applications that allowed users to track the movements of ICE agents, while Google has also made comparable apps unavailable. This set of actions comes amidst claims from the Trump administration that left-wing protestors have been consistently targeting ICE agents. However, specific incidents of harassment linked to the Facebook page were not substantiated by evidence in Bondi’s announcement.
Meta’s relationship with the Trump administration has been under scrutiny. The firm has made various adjustments to its policies, including a reported $1 million contribution to Trump’s inaugural fund and a settlement fee of $25 million concerning the suspension of Trump’s accounts following the January 6 Capitol incident.
The ICE presence in Chicago has met opposition from local leadership, including Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, both of whom have expressed their disapproval of ICE operations in the city. Recently, Mayor Johnson signed an order preventing ICE agents from using city property for their operations, while local businesses have posted signs disallowing ICE presence in their areas.
This situation underscores the ongoing tension surrounding immigration enforcement in urban settings and the challenges faced by tech companies navigating regulatory pressures while balancing community relationships.