National Criminal Justice Association – Crime and Justice News – ICE To Review Social Media Users For ‘Negative’ Activity, Threats Citing an increase in threats to ICE agents and leadership, the agency is soliciting pitches from private companies to monitor threats across the internet — with a special focus on social media. People who simply criticize ICE online could pulled into the dragnet, the Intercept reports. “In order to prevent adversaries from successfully targeting ICE Senior leaders, personnel and facilities, ICE requires real-time threat mitigation and monitoring services, vulnerability assessments, and proactive threat monitoring services,” the procurement document reads. If this scanning uncovers anything the agency deems suspicious, ICE is asking its contractors to drill down into the background of social media users. The agency says that includes: “Previous social media activity which would indicate any additional threats to ICE; 2).
There are operatives celebrating a boon in their job market.
The Intercept – After Spying on Standing Rock, TigerSwan Shopped Anti-Protest “Counterinsurgency” to Other Oil Companies. More than 50,000 pages of documents were recently made public after the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline lost a court case to keep them secret. b y Alleen Brown, Naveena Sadasivam, April 13 2023 The released documents provide startling new details about how TigerSwan used social media monitoring, aerial surveillance, radio eavesdropping, undercover personnel, and subscription-based records databases to build watchlists and dossiers on Indigenous activists and environmental organizations. At times, the pipeline security company shared this information with law enforcement officials. In other cases, WhatsApp chats and emails confirm TigerSwan used what it gathered to follow pipeline opponents in their cars and develop propaganda campaigns online. The documents contain records of TigerSwan attempting to help Energy Transfer build a legal case against pipeline opponents, known as water protectors, using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a law that was passed to prosecute the mob.
The information gig economy – it’s a thing.
Report: ICE Is Expanding Surveillance of Its Critics on Social Media It cites “an increase in threats” as the reason for seeking a contractor to monitor the public’s social media activity. By Brett Wilkins, CommonDreams Published February 12, 2025 Truthout According to Biddle: “It’s unclear how exactly any contractor might sniff out someone’s “proclivity for violence.” The ICE document states only that the contractor will use “social and behavioral sciences” and “psychological profiles” to accomplish its automated threat detection. Once flagged, the system will further scour a target’s internet history and attempt to reveal their real-world position and offline identity. In addition to compiling personal information—such as the Social Security numbers and addresses of those whose posts are flagged—the contractor will also provide ICE with a “photograph, partial legal name, partial date of birth, possible city, possible work affiliations, possible school or university affiliation, and any identified possible family members or associates.” The document also requests “facial recognition capabilities that could take a photograph of a subject and search the internet to find all relevant information associated with the subject.” The contract contains specific directions for targets found in other countries, implying the program would scan the domestic speech of American citizens.” (emphasis added)