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Trump DHS Targets BIG TECH as PROTESTS ERUPT

Posted

February 27, 2026

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Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian sound the alarm on one of the most troubling developments in the Trump administration's crackdown on dissent: the Department of Homeland Security has issued hundreds of administrative subpoenas to Google, Meta, Reddit, and Discord demanding the names, emails, phone numbers, and personal details of Americans who posted anti-ICE content or organized protests online. The hosts explain that unlike judicial subpoenas, administrative subpoenas require no judge's approval — DHS writes them up internally and sends them directly to tech companies. This tool was historically reserved for emergencies like child trafficking, but is now being aimed at neighborhood watch pages posting bilingual ICE sighting alerts and even a retired man who emailed DHS criticizing their treatment of an asylum seeker. The attorneys highlight a telling pattern: every time the ACLU or another organization files a motion to quash, DHS immediately withdraws the subpoena — because they know a judge would rule against them and they don't want adverse precedent. Meanwhile, tech companies like Meta notify users they have just 10–14 days to hire a lawyer and get to court, or their information gets handed over. The hosts argue this is authoritarian surveillance designed to chill constitutionally protected speech, and predict the courts will ultimately shut it down — but warn that the normalization of fear-based tactics is the real damage being done.

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Attorneys Brian KabateckShant KarnikianHomeland SecurityGoogle Meta RedditKabateck LLP CallSubscribe BecomeLegal AF YouTubeBluesky Follow Michael Popok

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