As ICE ramped up operations across the country, especially in Minneapolis, President Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem sent legal requests to Google, Reddit, Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and Discord to acquire names, email addresses, phone numbers, and identifying data of social media accounts that track and criticize ICE, according to a New York Times investigation.
The Times says Google, Meta, and Reddit complied with “some of the subpoenas,” which numbered in the hundreds and were “administrative subpoenas,” which are not subject to judicial oversight.
While the Trump administration claims the subpoenas are to protect DHS agents facing threats during immigration crackdowns in U.S. cities, Trump critics including ex-GOP consultant Reed Galen, a former DHS official during the George W. Bush administration, called the requests a First Amendment violation.
All you free speech absolutists, this is what the 1st Amendment expressly prohibits. https://t.co/z6tw1by88b
— Reed Galen (@reedgalen) February 16, 2026
Galen, a co-founder of The Lincoln Project, responded on social media: “All you free speech absolutists, this is what the 1st Amendment expressly prohibits.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a lawyer from the Silicon Valley tech industry, agreed with Galen, and wrote: “Tech must not bend the knee to a surveillance state. Google, Meta & other companies should refuse to comply with administrative subpoenas that target anonymous speech critical or ICE as a blatant violation of the First Amendment.”
Tech must not bend the knee to a surveillance state. Google, Meta & other companies should refuse to comply with administrative subpoenas that target anonymous speech critical or ICE as a blatant violation of the First Amendment. https://t.co/2QFFVAUH0N
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) February 16, 2026
In a recent case (Doe v. DHS) that drew nationwide attention, the ACLU claimed victory against the DHS’s use of administrative subpoenas, characterizing their use as “abusive tactics intended to chill speech and punish us for disagreeing with the government.”
In the case, DHS withdrew an administrative subpoena seeking information from social media companies about a Philadelphia man who had written to a DHS official asking the agency to “apply principles of common sense and decency” in its treatment of an Afghanistan man living in the U.S. who was targeted for deportation. The Philadelphian’s request that the agency use common sense and decency reportedly triggered administrative subpoenas sent to Google regarding his accounts and email. He also received a visit from DHS agents.
In a statement, Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said: “Companies like Google know a lot about us, and we shouldn’t have to worry that the government is going to strongarm them for our information if we say something it doesn’t like.”