Meta Blocks Links to Accountability Project Tracking ICE and DHS Employees
Meta has begun blocking users from sharing links to ICE List, a website that aggregates names of individuals it identifies as U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees. The project’s creators frame the work as a public accountability effort for agency staff.
Dominick Skinner, the founder of ICE List, told WIRED that links to the website were shared without any restrictions on Meta’s platforms for more than six months before the current block went into effect.
“It should come as no surprise that a company led by a man who sat behind Trump at his inauguration and donated to efforts that undermined the White House would take a stance that helps ICE agents retain their anonymity,” Skinner said.
As agents with Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – both agencies operating under DHS – have continued to target and harm immigrant communities and killed U.S. citizens, activists have turned to online documentation and tracking to hold agents accountable. Beyond threatening to prosecute people they accuse of “doxing” ICE agents, the Trump administration pressured technology companies to block all grassroots efforts to crowdsource information about agents’ locations and professional activities.
ICE List has operated publicly since June 2023. According to Skinner, the project is run by a core team of five people (including himself), plus hundreds of anonymous volunteers who contribute information about ICE agents working across U.S. cities.
The site went viral earlier this month after its team announced it had published a leaked list of 4,500 DHS employees. However, an independent analysis by WIRED found the list relied heavily on information that the employees themselves shared publicly on professional platforms like LinkedIn.
Skinner said volunteers across the U.S. first reported issues posting links to ICE List on Meta’s platforms on Monday night. By Tuesday morning, WIRED verified that links to the site were blocked on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. The outlet also confirmed links can still be shared via WhatsApp, another Meta-owned product.
While all platforms where the link is blocked are Meta properties, the automated error messages users receive for the restriction vary across the company’s apps.
When WIRED attempted to post an ICE List link on Facebook, we first received an alert that read: “Posts that look like spam according to our Community Guidelines are blocked on Facebook and can't be edited.” Hours later, the message was updated to: “Your content couldn't be shared, because this link goes against our Community Standards.” The notice linked to Meta’s general Community Standards homepage, rather than a specific violated policy.
On Threads, the link vanished instantly after being pasted into a new post, with a notice that only reads: “Link not allowed.”
On Instagram, after a user attempted to share the link in a Story, a notification popped up that read: “We restrict certain activity to protect our community. Let us know if you think we made a mistake.”
When asked for comment on the block, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone directed WIRED to the company’s policy governing the sharing of personally identifiable information (PII). After WIRED pointed out that the information hosted on ICE List did not include any categories of prohibited PII listed in Meta’s policy, Stone clarified the block is tied to the platform’s rule banning “content asking for personally identifiable information of others.”
In response to Meta’s explanation, Skinner noted that ICE List has been publicly requesting tips about the identities of ICE agents for the full six months the site has been operational.
