Judge orders DOJ, DHS to stop censoring anti-ICE social media groups

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration appeared to have illegally threatened Facebook and Apple into censoring anti-ICE groups’ social media, and he said he’ll order the government to cut it out.

Government officials said the Facebook group “ICE Sightings — Chicagoland” and the smartphone app “Eyes Up” were being used to “dox,” or reveal personal information about, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel.

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi both bragged about getting offending posts removed from the Facebook group and getting Eyes Up booted from Apple’s approved offerings.

Judge Jorge Alonso, an Obama nominee, said the government’s pressure on the tech firms went too far, particularly when they suggested there would be consequences for the companies if they didn’t play ball.

“They reached out to Facebook and Apple and demanded, rather than requested, that Facebook and Apple censor plaintiff’s speech,” the judge wrote.

He said Ms. Bondi herself tied her demands to Apple’s deletion of the app from its store.

The judge said Ms. Bondi compounded things by making “thinly veiled threats” suggesting prosecuting the tech firms for assisting in doxing.

The ruling presents a striking mirror image of a lawsuit brought against the Biden administration alleging the federal government had pressured tech firms to censor claims about the 2020 election and about the coronavirus pandemic.

That lawsuit prevailed in a district court but was ultimately shot down by the Supreme Court, which ruled the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration entered into a consent decree last month agreeing that it cannot coerce social media firms to remove content the government doesn’t like.