Attorney General Pam Bondi is under fire for telling Facebook parent company Meta to remove content on the social media site.
Bondi claimed that a Facebook group posts public photos of federal agents, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, that identify them.
"Today following outreach from @thejusticedept, Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target @ICEgov agents in Chicago," Bondi said, noting that ICE agents are being targeted.
It prompted a lot of questions from those who recalled Republicans being furious when former President Joe Biden's administration requested that false information about COVID be removed.
"Amazing. When the Biden adm reached out to Facebook to take down pages filled with Covid disinformation, it caused Zuckerberg to decry a full assault on free speech in America. Now, the Trump adm reaches out to remove ICE information and Facebook complies," wrote The Bulwark's Sam Stein on X.
First Amendment and defamation lawyer Ari Cohen commented, "Discussion of where ICE has been spotted operating, and even the identities of agents, is protected by the First Amendment. If there's a true threat, you prosecute that. But you cannot silence lawful speech, or pressure platforms to, because you're worried it might be 'misused.'"
Zeteo News founder and CEO Mehdi Hasan pointed to Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss, recalling hysteria over the so-called "Twitter Files."
"I’m sure @mtaibbi and @bariweiss and the rest of the ‘Twitter Files’ crew will be all over this, right? Right??" he asked. Bondi, he said, is "bragging about their social media censorship efforts."
American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick agreed, recalling, "I remember when it was a massive scandal on the right when government officials asked some platforms to take down posts they felt were spreading dangerous COVID misinformation that might endanger the lives of Americans."
Reporter Billy Binion wrote on X that Republicans even went to the Supreme Court, alleging social media companies were being pressured by the government.
Nu Wexler of Four Corners Public Affairs also remembered all of the congressional hearings about the issue.
National security expert Marcy Wheeler pointed to cases being ignored that include the far right doxing people on social media by not only posting photos but also their addresses and other information.
"Does this mean you'll arrest Laura Loomer for doxing and targeting FBI agents and AUSAs? Or, on top of violating the First Amendment, are you doing it selectively, protecting just some LE?" Wheeler asked.
She also asked, "Bondi [is] allowing TPUSA to dangerously dox college professors but censoring the speech of those she favors. Also, she's lying about there even BEING a wave of violence."
Chicago Tribune senior journalist Laura N. Rodríguez Presa explained that the page isn't about identifying and doxing ICE agents.
"The page removed practically served as a way for people find out when their loved ones had been taken. Most people shared videos and pictures after ICE agents had already left the area," she wrote.
