The surprising link between political strategy and health policies
Governments across the world, regardless of economic disparities, are continuously investing in technology to surveil their populations. One that has been of particular interest to intelligence agencies has been social media monitoring, often will little governmental oversight or accountability. The growing development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has further automated the mass processing of social media use through ‘deep neural networks’. In fact, citizens are more often than ever targeted for their social media use through surveillance mechanisms in an attempt to shrink the role of activism on digital platforms.
The US is one of the nations that is heavily invested in monitoring the social media activity of its citizens, immigrants, and visitors; a practice that has been ongoing for nearly two decades. But things are getting worse. In fact, throughout the first quarter of 2025, immigrants in particular, including legal residents, have faced major consequences of their social media use and corresponding public protest. Cases continue to emerge of sudden deportations, without adequate due process, as part of Trump’s political agenda. Many argue that these arbitrary decisions are a violation of freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble.
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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in April 2025 that it is screening immigrants’ social media activity for evidence of “antisemitic activity,” largely meaning any anti-Israeli speech.
The Department of Homeland Security has deemed those criticizing Israel as security threats, extremists, and even terrorist aliens. This decision comes on the heels of various arrests and subsequent deportations of legal residents.
Legal rights advocates and community organizations consider these actions by the American government “witch hunts,” echoing McCarthy-era blacklisting that intends to silence free speech. What’s behind this monitoring of people’s social media activities, and how did we get here?
The market for market for social media surveillance tools is growing as governments across the world make use of them. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies use these tools to scan through significant amounts of social media information.
These programs continue to expand and become more sophisticated. Under the guise of enhancing "public order" and ensuring security, governments use all kinds of measures to suppress dissent.
The primary manufacturer of surveillance technology is China. Social media surveillance tools are often experimented on the Chinese population, perfected, and then exported to other nations seeking to conduct a virtual scan of its population (and beyond).
For example, the Chinese firm Semptian is known for its surveillance system named Aegis. Aegis can not only scan but “store and analyze unlimited data.” It actively monitors over 200 million internet users.
There is a famous case of a member of China’s Uighur Muslim community, who was not only interrogated but also detained for a number of days. Authorities detained this person because someone on his contact list on a social media platform had virtually "checked in" from Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
China’s “Police Cloud” system, a digital policing system driven by big data, also targets those who interact with individuals deemed “persons of concern” or with those belonging to particular ethnic groups in the country, namely Uighur Muslims.
An additional 13 South Asian nations have similar programs in their own countries and implement them accordingly to repress public speech that goes against or threatens government policy.
The Middle East, too, has been a hot spot for the deployment of this kind of technology. In fact, during a Dubai trade show in 2020, Chinese surveillance companies held demonstrations and training for the region’s states on how to monitor the public more effectively.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, this strategy is also well in place and has been helped along through partnerships with the United States and, particularly, the European Union. Israeli surveillance firms are also active in the region.
Advocates argue that social media surveillance tools are tarnishing democracies through what is deemed "counterterrorism" measures. Tools intended to combat otherwise serious crimes are being more regularly applied to monitoring activists, protesters, and the general public.
The arguable misuse of these security tools raises serious questions about how civil liberties, individual privacy, and institutional ethics are being violated and protected.
The United States’ agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are at the forefront of the mass collection and analysis of personal information.
There is very limited oversight or transparency involved in the mass monitoring that the nation is conducting, as these strategies fall under national security protocols, which allows for a great deal of hush-hush operations to take place.
It doesn’t just apply to those in the United States, either. These agencies are conducting mass surveillance of over 200 million people outside the US border, and they do so with relative ease.
The CBP, for example, uses services from Israeli surveillance technology company, Cellebrite, to quickly extract data from users’ digital devices, bypassing encryption technology and any sort of password protection.
At the US borders in particular, the use of this kind of technology is soaring. These kinds of searches should be protected under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which “protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures by governments,” according to legal advocates.
Yet, this constitutional right is often being bypassed without much oversight, transparency, or explanation. The first significant spike in border device searches occurred between 2015-2018, with an increase of nearly 300% in search incidents. This corresponded with the period when Cellebrite was first introduced systematically.
The US has essentially constructed mass multiagency databases that harbor data from public records, intelligence materials, and data mined by private companies, as well as datasets collected from social media.
These tools are not just limited to large government agencies, many of them are readily used and accessible to local police departments. In California alone, over 300 police departments use these tools regularly.
Based on these datasets, leaked documents from 2019 show that the CBP had created a list of both American and foreign activists that should be scrutinized, meaning interrogated and/or detained, at US borders.
The list included activists, journalists, lawyers, and administrators from a series of social media groups and platforms. These measures have serious consequences. Of this list of 59 individuals, nine actually faced arrest.
The encouragement to self-censor to avoid public dissent, arrest, or any kind of restriction, is becoming more prevalent across the country. Violations of democratic principles, national rights frameworks, and international law, are ever-increasing with the wide application of surveillance technology.
So what’s happening in the United States? Under the Trump administration, there has been a spike not only in social media monitoring, but material consequences that are affecting, primarily, foreign residents.
While mass deportations of undocumented immigrants are being conducted, so are deportations of those legally residing in the country. In 2025 alone, over 40 students, holding valid residency permits, have been deported from the United States due to their political activities.
Universities are warning students not to travel outside the country, or potentially face the risk of entry denial. Other students are being subjected to speedy deportations due to their social media use and participation in public protests, largely without adequate due process.
This includes students such as Rumeysa Ozturk, who held a valid student visa. Ozturk was captured by masked and plain-clothes ICE agents from the streets. Or Mahmoud Khalil, a legal US resident married to an American who was taken from his home (and his heavily pregnant wife) and swiftly deported.
Sources: (Ronald Reagan Library) (Freedom House) (BBC) (The Guardian) (NPR) (Brennan Center for Justice)
See also: Traveling to the US? Here's how to protect your data at the border
How the US government monitors immigrants on social media
Targeted immigrants face jail and deportation
LIFESTYLE Intelligence
Governments across the world, regardless of economic disparities, are continuously investing in technology to surveil their populations. One that has been of particular interest to intelligence agencies has been social media monitoring, often with little governmental oversight or accountability. The growing development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has further automated the mass processing of social media use through "deep neural networks." In fact, citizens are being targeted more than ever for their social media use through surveillance mechanisms in an attempt to shrink the role of activism on digital platforms.
The US is one of the nations that is heavily invested in monitoring the social media activity of its citizens, immigrants, and visitors; a practice that has been ongoing for nearly two decades. But things are getting worse. In fact, throughout the first quarter of 2025, immigrants in particular, including legal residents, have faced major consequences of their social media use and corresponding public protests. Cases continue to emerge of sudden deportations, without adequate due process, as part of Trump’s political agenda. Many argue that these arbitrary decisions are a violation of freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble.
Curious to learn more? Click through the gallery.