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PULSE POINTS
❓WHAT HAPPENED: Meta has blocked users on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads from sharing links to the “ICE List” database, citing privacy violations.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Meta, ICE List founder Dominick Skinner, and social media users attempting to share the database.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Restrictions confirmed this week across Meta platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
💬KEY QUOTE: “If there’s a policy violation, we are the only one flagged, despite other sites sharing more.” – Dominick Skinner
🎯IMPACT: Meta’s actions prevent the spread of the database, highlighting the company’s enforcement of privacy policies and sparking debate over transparency and censorship.
IN FULL
Mark Zuckerberg‘s Meta technology company has restricted the ability of users to share links to a website known as the “ICE List” across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, confirming this week that the site violates the company’s privacy policies. The ICE List database claims to publish identifying information on thousands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal law enforcement personnel.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company acted under its community standards on privacy, which prohibit the sharing or solicitation of personally identifiable information. Those rules, he said, apply regardless of the political context surrounding the content.
Dominick Skinner, the founder of the ICE List website, has previously described his database project as a way to hold ICE agents accountable for alleged abuses of power. “If there’s a policy violation, we are the only one flagged, despite other sites sharing more,” he claimed.
The Trump administration has taken the opposite view, characterizing the database as doxing and warning that publishing agents’ identities could endanger law enforcement officers and their families. Database websites like ICE List are often used to target and harass suspected federal law enforcement and other government officials, and have resulted in violent confrontations.
The move by Meta comes amid heightened scrutiny of anti-ICE activism and organizing efforts. Recent reports revealed leaked messages from encrypted Signal chats in which activists coordinated efforts to monitor ICE activity and mobilize protests. In one message, a Democratic state lawmaker encouraged participation in such groups, stating, “We’ve got a couple of groups on the app Signal that we would love for you to join, whether or not you want to be part of the resistance network—I fully understand that you may not be comfortable with that.”
Federal authorities have since confirmed they are reviewing those communications. FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau is investigating the Signal groups, warning, “If they break the law, you should be worried; it’s that simple.”
Tech companies have previously faced pressure from federal officials over tools perceived as facilitating the tracking of ICE agents. Apple removed several ICE-tracking applications from its App Store after law enforcement raised safety concerns.
Image byAnthony Quintano.
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