Unearthed ICE documents highlight Trump administration’s social media surveillance plans

[Thiệu Ngô]

Plus, a mysterious group targets Gov. Wes Moore with racist AI videos, Trump seeks gratitude over TikTok, and more — all in this week’s Tuesday Tech Drop.

By Ja'han Jones

Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.

ICE’s social media surveillance plans

Republicans love to peddle debunked conspiracy theories about spooky government targeting of conservatives online. Now, the same right-wing movement that brought you the “Twitter Files” conspiracy theory is standing idly by as the government reportedly assembles a social media surveillance apparatus to aid President Donald Trump’s bigoted mass incarceration and deportation agenda.

Wired magazine was the first to report on publicly available contracting records showing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking contractors to potentially run an around-the-clock social media surveillance program out of two offices, located in Vermont and California.

Per the report:

Federal contracting records reviewed by WIRED show that the agency is seeking private vendors to run a multiyear surveillance program out of two of its little-known targeting centers. The program envisions stationing nearly 30 private analysts at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in Vermont and Southern California. Their job: Scour Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms, converting posts and profiles into fresh leads for enforcement raids.

The proposal is still at an early stage and has not been finalized. But along with Trump’s open threats against the left — such as his concrete steps urging the Department of Homeland Security to target liberals and the military to vanquish the “enemy within” — this proposal raises the possibility of a tool that could be used to spy on the administration’s supposed enemies or suppress free speech.

Trump demands gratitude for TikTok

Trump claimed in a social media post that young people “owe me big” for having “saved TikTok.” And by “saved TikTok,” he means his administration defied a bipartisan law ordering the app to be sold earlier this year — and greenlit a deal to hand the app’s U.S. operation to an ownership group including Larry Ellison, the uber-rich Trump ally who has openly promoted his vision of mass surveillance.

AI-assisted group attacks Wes Moore

A new report shines light on a mysterious group that has targeted Maryland’s first Black governor, Wes Moore, with artificial intelligence-generated videos on social media that have been denounced as racist by Democratic leaders. The dark money group calls itself No Moore.

Big Tech blocks ICE-tracking apps

Apple and Google have both capitulated to the Trump administration and banned apps that allow users to track ICE activity.

Covenant Eyes co-founder’s stepson arrested

Thomas Wideman — whose stepfather co-founded anti-pornography software known as Covenant Eyes, which allows people to monitor someone’s internet activity and has been popularized by conservatives such as House Speaker Mike Johnson — was recently arrested in Michigan and charged with seeking to engage in sexual activity with an underage girl. (The suspect’s attorney told The Roys Report that neither he nor Wideman would comment.)

Streamer charged in New Jersey

In New Jersey, a teenager has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after police say he fatally struck two 17-year-old girls with his vehicle before discussing the incident on a YouTube livestream the next day. (A New York City television station, WNBC, reported that attempts to contact the 17-year-old suspect, Vincent Battiloro, at his home were unsuccessful.)

Kirk conspiracy theories fuel MAGA infighting

Michelle Goldberg, an opinion columnist for The New York Times, wrote an excellent breakdown on the fissures forming in MAGA world as some conservatives use Charlie Kirk’s killing to spread conspiracy theories about Israel.