Meta Blocks Posts Sharing Database Of Ice Agents

Meta has stopped Facebook, Instagram and Threads users from sharing a database claiming to contain thousands of names and photos of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, citing privacy concerns.

Anyone trying to post ICE List to Facebook as of Tuesday afternoon was warned the post violates the platform’s community standards. Instagram and Threads users received a message saying the post failed to upload.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone shared the company’s community standards under “Privacy Violations,” which prohibit sharing or soliciting of personally identifiable information.

The move to restrict the links follows unrest in Minneapolis sparked by an ICE operation that has led to thousands of arrests and two fatal shootings, and comes as residents use social media and encrypted messaging apps to track ICE vehicles and agents.

Blocks to ICE List links were first reported by WIRED on Tuesday.

ICE List is a website that claims to compile the names and photos of Department of Homeland Security employees. Its founder, Dominick Skinner, told POLITICO last July that he created the website as a way to hold ICE agents accountable for potential abuses of power.

The Trump administration has accused the project of doxing officers and putting their lives at risk. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Skinner questioned Meta’s policy against posting links to websites that contained people’s personal information, noting that Meta’s platforms had no issues with posting people-finder websites such as White Pages that shared individuals’ phone numbers and family members.

“If there's a policy violation, we are the only one flagged, despite other sites sharing more,” Skinner told POLITICO in an email.

He believes Meta started banning links to ICE List after the website created a page for people to submit tips on the ICE agents involved in Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting.

Stone denied that the blocks were a result of ICE List soliciting information about Pretti's death.

Big Tech companies have previously curtailed access to content that identifies or tracks ICE agents. Last October, Apple and Google removed the ICEBlock app from their respective app stores, following demands from Attorney General Pam Bondi claiming it put officers at risk.