Cybersecurity Policy Report, DHS’s Use of Subpoenas to Investigate Online Critics Threatens Privacy, House Democrats Say, (Feb 26, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:Apple | Snap, Inc.
The use of subpoenas to investigate online critics of the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement activities “has become a serious threat to the First Amendment and privacy rights of Americans,” according to three leading Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee.
“In the past year, DHS has issued numerous administrative subpoenas or summonses to social media companies, seeking data about users who have criticized or monitored DHS’s immigration enforcement activities,” the lawmakers said in letters sent yesterday to 10 social media and tech companies.
“DHS has justified its expansive use of administrative subpoenas and summonses by citing its legal authorities to request documents and records in furtherance of certain immigration and customs investigations,” they noted.
But DHS’s use of these authorities “has gone far beyond their narrow purposes,” according to the letters from Reps. Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.), the Homeland Security Committee’s ranking member; Lou Correa (D., Calif.), ranking member of the committee’s border security & enforcement subcommittee; and Shri Thanedar (D., Mich), ranking member of the oversight, investigations & accountability subcommittee.
“While Federal law grants DHS the authority to issue administrative subpoenas to assist its enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act and to issue summonses as part of customs investigations, DHS’s current use of these authorities appears to exceed congressional intent and threatens the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens,” the lawmakers said.
“Considering the sensitive information social media companies maintain about their users, it is imperative that social media companies protect their users’ privacy and free speech rights and do not share user information with DHS in the absence of compelling legal justification,” they said.
They set a March 20 deadline for the companies to respond by disclosing the number of administrative subpoenas or summonses each has received from DHS since Jan. 20, 2025, how many they complied with, and whether they notified the affected users, among other things.
The information from the companies will be used for “oversight of DHS’s use of its existing administrative subpoena and summons authorities” and to inform “potential statutory changes,” the lawmakers said.
The letters were sent to Amazon.com, Inc., Apple, Inc., Discord, Inc., Google LLC, Meta Platforms, Inc., Microsoft Corp., Reddit, Inc., Snap, Inc., TikTok, and X Corp.
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