Congress Members Urge Meta to Stop Running ICE Recruitment Ads Featuring Neo-Nazi Song.
Members of Congress have urged social media giant Meta to stop running recruitment ads by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that feature imagery and music intended to appeal to white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
In a letter sent to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Reps. Becca Balint, D-Vt., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., questioned how the social media company approved an ad campaign from the Department of Homeland Security featuring the song "We'll Have Our Home Again," which is popular in neo-Nazi online spaces.
The lawmakers accused Meta of profiting from a large-scale digital recruitment campaign relying on themes that would stand out to white nationalists. They also questioned what safeguards existed to prevent extremist-linked content from appearing in government advertising and whether recent changes to Meta's hate-speech policies allowed the company to run the ads.
Meta has not responded to a request for comment, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has defended its recruitment messaging in a statement. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin rejected comparisons between the ads and extremist propaganda, arguing that criticism of the campaign amounted to an attack on patriotic expression.
The lawmakers also pointed to a deterioration in internal oversight and hiring standards within ICE, including waived age limits, large signing bonuses, and reports of recruits being rushed into the field without adequate training. They argued that the combination of rapid expansion, aggressive recruitment, and weak platform safeguards poses risks to public safety.
Members of Congress have urged social media giant Meta to stop running recruitment ads by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that feature imagery and music intended to appeal to white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
In a letter sent to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Reps. Becca Balint, D-Vt., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., questioned how the social media company approved an ad campaign from the Department of Homeland Security featuring the song "We'll Have Our Home Again," which is popular in neo-Nazi online spaces.
The lawmakers accused Meta of profiting from a large-scale digital recruitment campaign relying on themes that would stand out to white nationalists. They also questioned what safeguards existed to prevent extremist-linked content from appearing in government advertising and whether recent changes to Meta's hate-speech policies allowed the company to run the ads.
Meta has not responded to a request for comment, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has defended its recruitment messaging in a statement. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin rejected comparisons between the ads and extremist propaganda, arguing that criticism of the campaign amounted to an attack on patriotic expression.
The lawmakers also pointed to a deterioration in internal oversight and hiring standards within ICE, including waived age limits, large signing bonuses, and reports of recruits being rushed into the field without adequate training. They argued that the combination of rapid expansion, aggressive recruitment, and weak platform safeguards poses risks to public safety.
#StopICERecruitmentAds. I mean, who thought it was a good idea for Meta to run ads with imagery and music that's straight up white nationalist? 
As far as I know, Meta's got some work to do on its internal safeguards, and this whole thing is a big red flag 
#HateSpeechIsNotFreeSpeech. The fact that ICE is recruiting with these ads just screams of a problem, and we need more transparency and accountability from our government agencies 
. What's next? Are they gonna run ads promoting conspiracy theories or misinformation? 
meta should just have a more robust review process in place for ads they're gonna run lol like how we vet influencers on tiktok before they get millions of followers. i think it's unfair to bash the department of homeland security for trying to fill some huge gaps but at the same time i can see why some people would be worried about white nationalists getting all fired up over a song... 
anyway, let's not forget that ice has been having major issues lately and maybe we should focus on fixing those problems instead of trying to scrub out one bad ad campaign.
and Meta is just running with it! I mean, I get that they want to fill positions ASAP, but at what cost? 
This isn't patriotic expression, it's white nationalism 
. We need better safeguards in place to prevent this kind of stuff from happening. And what about the lack of training for these new recruits? That's a recipe for disaster! 
It's time for more accountability and oversight.
... can't you just block these ads and prevent them from reaching all those vulnerable people instead of running them in the first place? 
it's also weird that DHS is saying they're defending patriotic expression when really they should be concerned about how their ads are being used by people with extremist views 
anyway i think it's wild that ice can advertise on meta without some serious scrutiny i mean what's the point of having a "no hate speech" policy if you're just gonna let racist ads slip through the cracks? 
? you're basically saying that white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups are your ideal customers... like, no thanks! I know they love that song "We'll Have Our Home Again" (ugh, give me a break), but it's not exactly uplifting for everyone else who doesn't fit their idea of a "homely" America 
. anyway, back in 2018, there was a similar scandal involving Facebook and ICE recruitment ads... remember how the backlash was huge? 
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. I'm not sure what's more concerning, the ads themselves or the lack of accountability from Meta. It's like they're more interested in making a quick buck than actually doing some real good 
! Meta's got a responsibility to keep their platform safe from hate groups and now they're profiting off recruiting people for an agency that's basically giving out deportation orders to immigrants? It's like, how can you justify that? They should be pushing back against the propaganda, not fueling it. And what's up with DHS just shrugging it off? This is a huge deal and if Meta doesn't do something about it, they're going to get roasted 
Have some safeguards in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. And what's with the DHS saying it's not extremist propaganda? That's just a load of bull 
. We need to be better than that as a society. Let's get this sorted out ASAP and make sure these kinds of ads can't happen again! 
. The lawmakers are totally on the right track here 
. Someone needs to hold Meta accountable for this and make sure their platform is safe for everyone, not just white nationalists 
.
it's like, you're trying to save America not recruit a bunch of white nationalists. 