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Meta removed page upon Justice Department request

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AG Bondi says page was being used to 'dox and target' ICE

agents

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Apple ( AAPL ), Google have taken similar actions

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice

Department said on Tuesday that Meta had complied with

its request to take down a page on its Facebook platform that

the agency said was being used to harass ICE agents in Chicago.

In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the page was

part of an effort to "dox and target" the approximately 200

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who have descended

on the city as part of President Donald Trump's immigration

enforcement drive. Doxxing is the sharing of personal

information about people online.

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed that the company had

removed the page from the Facebook platform for "violating our

policies against coordinated harm." Neither Meta nor the DOJ

provided more information on the page, and Reuters was unable to

review it.

Apple ( AAPL ) earlier this month removed apps that allowed

users to track the movements of ICE agents following pressure

from the Trump administration. Google also has made

similar apps unavailable. The administration has threatened to

prosecute makers of the tracking apps.

ICE has been central to Trump's hardline immigration agenda.

Its agents have regularly raided and arrested migrants, and

rights advocates say free speech and due process are often being

infringed.

The administration has asserted that left-wing protesters

have been regularly harassing and interfering with ICE agents.

Bondi did not provide evidence in her post on X of specific

incidents connected to the Facebook page.

Meta and other tech firms have been trying to mend their

relationship with Trump since he won reelection in November. The

company contributed $1 million to the president's inaugural fund

and scrapped its diversity and fact-checking programs.

Meta also agreed to pay Trump $25 million to settle a

lawsuit over the suspension of his accounts after the January 6,

2021 U.S. Capitol attack.

The ICE presence in Chicago has been resisted by the city's

Democratic mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois' Democratic

governor, JB Pritzker. Earlier this month, Johnson signed an

order prohibiting ICE agents from using city-owned property as

staging areas for operations, and local businesses have posted

signs declaring their premises off-limits to ICE.