‘If this is civilization, I’ll take the jungle’: People fume over US Department of Homeland Security’s social media policing concerns
Based on multiple reports from several reputed publications, the United States Department of Homeland Security is taking measures to exercise greater control over social media usage, especially in terms of activity centred around their criticism of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). To achieve this, the department, according to an article published in The New York Times on February 13, 2026, has been sending legal requests to tech companies, requesting the names, email addresses, telephone numbers and other identifying data of social media accounts that “track or criticize the agency.”
After repeatedly wreaking havoc on the immigrant population of the United States and also Americans for the past year, the Department of Homeland Security has now decided that they are not done terrorising the people of the United States. To that effect, as mentioned previously, they have decided to conduct surveillance on social media to identify anti-ICE rhetoric and squash it before the noise gets too loud. The NYT article referenced before details the event, highlighting that based on information received from four government officials and tech employees who have awareness of what is going on internally, in recent months, Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta, “have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas from the Department of Homeland Security.”
Netizens are enraged by the news of the Department of Homeland Security monitoring social media activity
As news broke about the United States Department of Homeland Security policing individuals who criticise ICE, and of them sending requests to Google, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook asking them to provide their credentials, people started engaging in elaborate conversations on social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter). Most of them were worried about losing their Right to Freedom of Speech, which is guaranteed to US citizens under the First Amendment. Others discussed the sorry state of the current government under the Trump administration and how it was steadfast in rejecting dissent and turning gradually towards fascism.
User @Its_ereko on X rightfully summarises the sentiments of all the people discussing the issue and writes under Globe Eye News’s reporting of the event, “Land of the free” requests your phone number for criticizing the government. If this is civilization, I’ll take the jungle. At least the lions are honest about wanting to eat you.”
In 2026 alone, there were two fatal shootings and 6 deaths that can be attributed to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
According to an article published by the American Immigration Council on February 11, 2026, six people have died in ICE detention centres in January 2026. The locations from where the incidents have been reported include Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and California.
Besides this, we all know about Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, who were brutally shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis. Their fault? While Good was driving away from a group of agents, Pretti was helping a woman avoid being manhandled by ICE officials.
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