Meta blocks links to ICE List website tracking US immigration agents

Meta has begun blocking links to a controversial website known as ICE List, which tracks immigration enforcement activity in the United States and publishes the names of thousands of government agents, in a move first reported by Wired that has reignited debate around privacy, safety and free expression online.

ICE List describes itself as a public documentation project focused on immigration enforcement and states that it collects and organises information on raids, arrests, detention facilities, vehicles and encounters involving immigration authorities. The website also publishes the names of individual agents working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.

The site’s creators have said the aim is to preserve information they believe would otherwise be fragmented or difficult to access. ICE List relies on crowdsourced submissions and publicly available material, but earlier this month stated that it had uploaded a leaked list of around 4,500 government employees.

That claim contributed to the site gaining widespread attention, although an analysis by Wired found that much of the information appeared to be drawn from public sources, particularly LinkedIn profiles completed by the employees themselves.

Links to ICE List had circulated widely on Meta-owned platforms including Facebook and Threads for several weeks, with users sharing the site to discuss immigration enforcement and government actions. More recently, however, the links stopped working.

Users clicking on older posts containing ICE List links now encounter an error message stating that the link cannot be opened, while attempts to share new links are blocked with warnings that the content violates Meta’s rules and appears to be spam.

Meta confirmed that it had blocked the links but provided limited detail on the decision. A company spokesperson referred to Meta’s privacy policy, which prohibits the sharing of personally identifiable information, including names linked to sensitive roles. Meta did not clarify why action was taken only after several weeks, or whether information sourced from public LinkedIn profiles breaches its rules on doxxing, as reported by Wired.

This is not the first time Meta has removed content linked to tracking immigration enforcement. The company has previously taken down a Facebook group monitoring ICE sightings in Chicago following concerns raised by the US Justice Department.

The episode underscores the growing tension facing social media platforms, with activists and researchers arguing that documenting government activity supports accountability, while critics warn that naming individual agents may expose people to risk. For now, Meta’s move means ICE List links can no longer be shared across its platforms.