People are using TikTok to track ICE raids
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People in the U.S. are leveraging TikTok, the app President Trump vowed to save because it's been friendly to him, to alert people of ICE agent sightings.
Why it matters: The goal is to undermine immigration enforcement's aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants by using TikTok's algorithm, which is known for its ability to rapidly share information in real time.
The big picture: The videos, which largely started after the Trump administration announced the start of mass deportations last week, are being posted in states nationwide, including Virginia, Maryland, California, North Carolina and Michigan.
- In some cases, TikTokkers are using code words like "cute winter boots," which they say is a censorship-evading technique, to boost their reach.
- They'll also comment on where they've "found a sale," say "it's getting slippery" in a certain location and that "ICE cream trucks" have been spotted.
- Others have used it to share what people's rights are if ICE comes knocking and the link to a U.S. map of unconfirmed immigration agent sightings with photos called "People Over Papers."
A TikTok spokesperson told Axios the platform's algorithms and content moderation policies haven't changed since the U.S. got the app back.
Zoom in: Daniel Morales, a history professor who specializes in immigration at Virginia Commonwealth University, told Axios we're seeing the latest evolution of decades-worth of community warnings regarding immigration raids.
- In the 1930s-1950s, Morales said newspapers reported Mexican Americans and children keeping a lookout and sometimes confronting authorities to stop them.
- By the 1990s, people were using phones — and what they heard on Spanish TV news stations, which reported on raids — to alert each other.
- Then during the Bush administration, it was MySpace, emails and AIM chats. In Obama's first term, it was Facebook groups, which were later replaced by WhatsApp.
Yes, but: Morales notes it's a tricky balance between communicating information and contributing to the fear-mongering that, in the past, has made some immigrants "terrified to go outside" and afraid to go to school.
- What Morales said can help: Posting what you've personally seen with a specific location instead of a general area, confirming what's actually happened and following local immigrant rights groups who can share resources.
What we're watching: TikTok is putting a magnifying glass to what rolling out mass deportations is looking like.
- And while most U.S. adults say they support mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally, Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson says "The real question is going to be ... does that level of support maintain or fragment as they confront the reality of what it means."
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