U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is leveraging AI technology from Zignal Labs to conduct large-scale social media monitoring through a $5.7 million contract.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is deploying an online surveillance system, having invested $5.7 million in the Zignal Labs AI-powered social media monitoring platform, which could track millions of internet users.
According to federal records disclosed by Leverage magazine and the company’s promotional materials, this “real-time intelligence” platform uses machine learning, computer vision, and optical character recognition technology to analyze over 8 billion social media posts daily in more than 100 languages. The processed data is categorized into “curated detection sources” for ICE to identify and deport individuals.
The platform can capture geotagged images and videos and send real-time alerts to operators. In one case, Zignal Labs identified the specific location of a Gaza operation by analyzing a Telegram video and confirmed the individuals involved through badge identification. This suggests that ICE could potentially track individuals in the future based on location information attached to videos and images posted on platforms like TikTok and Facebook.
Will Owen, communications director for the oversight group “Project on Government Oversight,” criticized the move as an “attack on democracy and free speech.” Zignal Labs has not responded to media inquiries about the details of its partnership with ICE. The company has previously collaborated with multiple government agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Defense.