Tensions erupt in Washington as Reps. Becca Balint and Pramila Jayapal confront Meta and Google over ICE’s ad campaigns reeking of white nationalism. Their CEO letters mandate halting DHS partnerships, detailing agreements, and justifying why inflammatory content aired despite strict policies.
ICE’s war room strategy: recruit en masse for urban hotspots, easing criteria with no age barriers, big bonuses, and rushed field placements. The ads, a mix of recruitment bait and deportation hype, target Latinos via cultural hooks on Instagram and Facebook.
Prime exhibit—a post snarling ‘Our home will be our home again,’ straight from extremist playbooks. Spending? Lavish: $1M+ lately on self-deport nudges, nearly $3M on Spanish Google/YouTube, $5.8M annually.
Balint and Jayapal paint a picture of targeted intimidation, probing tech’s vetting lapses. How did this align with hate-free mandates? Was DHS consulted internally?
Broader implications loom for platform accountability, especially with government spenders. As immigration enforcement ramps up, these ads risk fueling division and radical entry into federal roles.
The clock ticks for Meta and Google’s replies. This could herald tighter ad regulations, forcing a rethink on who gets a megaphone—and what messages blast across feeds.