https://www.techdirt.com/2023/09/15/dhs-continues-to-violate-facebook-policies-by-allowing-cbp-ice-officers-to-create-fake-social-media-profiles/ [ ] Techdirt. [ ] * Sign In * Register * Preferences Techdirt [ ] * TechDirt * GreenHouse * Free Speech * Deals * Jobs * Support Techdirt [podcast-ti] Daily Deal: 3-in-1 USB-C Charging Cable For Apple Watch, iPhone, And AirPods Artists Who Use AI In Their Work Ask Congress Not To Kill AI DHS Continues To Violate Facebook Policies By Allowing CBP, ICE Officers To Create Fake Social Media Profiles [cm-topic] Content Moderation from the fake-people,-real-harms dept Fri, Sep 15th 2023 10:51am - Tim Cushing The US government may try to prosecute you for violating sites' terms of service. But it won't be handling its own actions the same way. Instead, the government embraces fakery of all sorts, from fake colleges used to eject immigrants just trying to further their education to setting up fake drug stash houses to entrap people desperate to improve their personal financial situations. And then there's the FBI's 20 years of radicalizing people in terrorist stings where the government does all the conspiring and the "terrorists" it creates do all the jail time. While it's understood a certain amount of subterfuge is necessary to engage in law enforcement, social media services have made it clear not even the federal government is exempt from policies forbidding the creation of fake profiles. Not that it matters to the government. While it has considered this sort of behavior from mere citizens to be a criminal act, it treats willful violation of site policies as just another day at the office. More evidence of the government's unwillingness to play by the rules. The Guardian reports the DHS's encouragement of fake profile creation by officers working for its many underlying agencies continues unabated, despite having drawn the attention of these services, along with the occasional legislator. US immigration officials sought to expand their abilities to monitor and surveil social media activity and allowed officers to create and use fake social media profiles in a wide range of operations, including covertly researching the online presence of people seeking immigration benefits, new documents show. Authorities within several Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration agencies, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), have repeatedly discussed using "aliases", or undercover online accounts for investigations, according to records obtained through an open records request by the civil rights non-profit Brennan Center for Justice and shared with the Guardian. Officials have also expressed concern about social media sites' policies that prohibit the use of fake profiles and discussed bypassing those rules. Facebook has repeatedly warned government entities that their employees are subject to the same "real name" policies that apply to regular people who wish to use the service. These warnings have been constantly ignored, which is definitely the expected outcome, but one that ensures the federal government can't pretend it didn't know it was violating policies if it ever comes to the point where someone within the government is willing to do anything about these routine violations. The documents discussed here make it clear the government will continue to violate site policies for as long as it believes it's beneficial to do so. As of now, DHS components are in the constant expansion phase of this scenario. In August 2019, Ice's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which tracks and jails people for deportation, expressed interest in using social media for "fugitive" and "detainee" operations, according to emails between DHS privacy officials. "I'm mainly concerned with ERO's authority to create a fake profile and how we would get around the terms of service of certain social media providers," one DHS privacy officer wrote. At about the same time, DHS officials wrote that the department's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) branch, which conducts criminal inquiries, was planning to soon use "aliases". And one HSI policy document on social media use, written in 2012, said that "undercover operations" could require investigators to "befriend or become business associates with potential violators". There's no end point in sight. Facebook will continue to remove accounts it determines to be bogus. DHS employees will continue to create fake profiles while ignoring the guidance of the DHS's own privacy officers, who obviously feel the continued abuse of site policies is likely going to end badly for the agency and its component entities. Meanwhile, social media surveillance continues uninterrupted. The documents show CBP is still allowed to create fake profiles to passively monitor public Facebook posts. ICE can go a bit further. It has been given explicit permission to create fake accounts to engage in undercover investigations as long as the tactics used online are somewhat analogous to undercover activities carried out in the real world. I guess that's the standard the DHS will hold itself to: if it can lie to people in person, it can lie to them online. The difference is in-person surveillance is limited to a small set of targets while online undercover efforts -- combined with powerful third-party tools offered by government contractors -- make placing thousands of people under surveillance so simple even a government agent can do it. Filed Under: cbp, dhs, fake social media profiles, ice, immigration, real names, social media Companies: facebook, meta 4 CommentsLeave a Comment If you liked this post, you may also be interested in... * College Kids Are Easily Bypassing Stupid University TikTok Bans * Yet Another Study Shows No Link At All Between Social Media And Teen Anxiety And Depression * Court Tosses Arkansas Age Verification Law For Violating The 1st Amendment * The Protecting Kids On Social Media Act Is A Terrible Alternative To KOSA * State Governments Can't Resist The Siren Song Of Censorship * * * * Rate this comment as insightful Rate this comment as funny You have rated this comment as insightful You have rated this comment as funny Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam You have flagged this comment The first word has already been claimed The last word has already been claimed Lightbulb icon Laughing icon Flag icon Lightbulb icon Laughing icon Comments on "DHS Continues To Violate Facebook Policies By Allowing CBP, ICE Officers To Create Fake Social Media Profiles" Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment * Filter comments in by Time * Filter comments as Threaded * Filter only comments rated Insightful * Filter only comments rated funny LOL * Filter only comments that are Unread 4 Comments Collapse all replies [3ea55da893]Matthew M Bennett says: September 15, 2023 at 12:35 pm We're literally just ushering people across the border If you wanted deport an illegal immigrant, there's several million actively being housed using tax dollars. No one is deporting anyone beyond some criminal (or political) reasons. Never have I ever read anything ever so made up. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. Collapse replies (1) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [2] [67727e1421]Anonymous Coward says: September 15, 2023 at 2:21 pm Re: "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW." I read that in the voice of that person under the covers screaming Leave Britney Alone! So tell us .. Whaaaat's Happinin' Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [88912b4ca8]Anonymous Coward says: September 15, 2023 at 1:51 pm i'd go for leaving the accounts up with an obvious "watermark" across the screen stating where such fake accounts originate. Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [84704f058d]Anonymous Coward says: September 15, 2023 at 2:02 pm I would not be surprised if Facebook (et al) started investigating and blocking IPs (and routes) determined to originate with DHS. Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word --------------------------------------------------------------------- says: Add Your Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here Name [ ] Email [ ] [ ]Subscribe to the Techdirt Daily newsletter URL [ ] Subject [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment * [ ] Comment Options: (*)Use markdown. ( )Use plain text. Make this the ( )First Word or ( )Last Word.(*)No thanks. (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this? What's this? 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