As ICE is building a social media panopticon, privacy and civil rights advocates are raising alarms over the agency’s expanding surveillance network. Newly uncovered federal records reveal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investing $5.7 million in an AI-driven monitoring system capable of tracking millions of online users.

The contract, first reported by The Lever, exposes how ICE is partnering with Zignal Labs, a company known for its powerful social media analytics tools. Critics say this move represents an “assault on democracy and free speech.”

ICE’s New Surveillance Tool: Zignal Labs

According to Zignal Labs’ own materials, the company’s “real-time intelligence” platform can collect and analyze massive amounts of publicly available social media data. Using machine learning, computer vision, and optical character recognition, it processes over 8 billion posts per day across more than 100 languages.

This means ICE could use the system to create detailed profiles of online users — potentially identifying and flagging individuals for deportation or investigation based on their social media activity.

How ICE Could Track People Online

The documents describe how Zignal Labs’ software captures geolocated images and videos, then sends “real-time alerts” to operators. One striking example showed how Zignal analyzed a Telegram video from Gaza, detecting emblems and patches to identify specific groups involved in an operation.

If adapted for ICE, this means the agency could trace someone’s location from a TikTok video or Facebook photo, linking digital footprints to physical movements.

Why This Matters: Privacy and Free Speech Under Threat

Privacy experts warn that ICE’s social media panopticon could chill free expression, especially among immigrant communities and activists. Will Owen, communications director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), called the contract “an assault on democracy and free speech.”

With the power to monitor public sentiment, online conversations, and even personal posts, ICE’s partnership with Zignal Labs raises deep concerns about government overreach and digital surveillance.

Who Helped ICE Build This System

The $5.7 million contract was secured through Carahsoft, a firm that provides IT solutions to U.S. government agencies. By working through a private intermediary, ICE avoided direct public scrutiny over the full scope of its digital surveillance plans.

Civil liberties organizations are calling for transparency, arguing that such monitoring capabilities could easily be misused to target vulnerable populations or suppress dissent.

This development reflects a larger trend: U.S. law enforcement agencies are increasingly turning to AI-powered data mining tools to monitor social platforms. As ICE builds a social media panopticon, it blurs the line between public safety and mass surveillance.

The question now is how far these systems will go — and who will be held accountable when they cross ethical or legal boundaries.