offbeat

Kyiv wants tighter controls to keep foreign silicon out of Moscow’s weapons

Sanctions and Nvidia’s exit from Russia in 2022 haven’t stopped its Jetson Orin hardware from turning up in Russian weaponry, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.

The Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reported this week that it spotted an Nvidia Jetson Orin module in the remains of a Russian S-71 Monochrome cruise missile. The S-71M is an air-launched weapon with autonomous capabilities that can reportedly search for and engage targets using optical sensors and onboard computing.

“The use of this component may indicate the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the missile,” GUR said. That assumption makes sense, as information on the S-71M suggests that it can operate with user oversight or entirely autonomously. 

Photos included with the GUR announcement show a heavily scorched Nvidia chip with the identifier TE980M-A1 stamped onto its surface, indicating that the chip is a Jetson Orin NX 16GB unit that Nvidia released in early 2023. It’s a capable chip, but not exactly datacenter-class hardware – Orin systems are designed precisely for use cases like autonomous systems.

Nvidia used to have offices in Russia and do business there, but it closed up shop in Ukraine’s bellicose neighbor in 2022 following Moscow’s decision to go to war with Kyiv. That was prior to the introduction of the TE980M-A1, meaning it must have reached Russian hands through another channel after Nvidia stopped direct sales to the country in early 2022.

In other words, whatever sanctions the US has enacted or business decisions Nvidia has made, its hardware is still turning up in Russian weaponry used to target Ukrainians. The one good thing about the entire affair, according to GUR, is the fact that the recovered hardware proves Russian tech manufacturing still isn’t up to snuff.

According to Nvidia, Orin modules are consumer grade and are sold to all sorts of different people for all sorts of purposes, with military applications not being among their intended design. The chips aren’t supposed to be available in Russia, either, a spokesperson told The Register, adding that there are plenty of ways for Russia to get ahold of the chips that are out of its control.

“Pre-owned Jetsons are available through many reseller channels,” Nvidia told us. “Although we cannot track products after they are sold, if we determine that any customer is violating U.S. export controls, we will take appropriate action.”

US export controls have restricted exports of advanced chips to Russia and China. Chipmakers have responded to China-specific restrictions by producing hardware designed to comply with US export rules, while third parties have allegedly used smuggling to get restricted higher-end components into China.

It’s not clear how the Nvidia component ended up in Russian hands. GUR’s latest disclosures also document Chinese-made electronics in Russian weapons.

However the salvaged chip made its way to Russia, GUR said its evidence shows that current export control regimes aren’t working.

“The discovery of Nvidia Jetson in a new Russian missile once again demonstrates the need for increased sanctions pressure and coordination of the efforts of the civilized world,” the intelligence agency said. ®

The Hisense XR10 triple laser projector represents something of a new product category for a company well known in the projector world for its range of standalone ultra short throw (UST) models and “Laser TVs” (basically, a UST projector packaged with a separate screen). 

What’s different about the Hisense XR10 ($5,999) is that it takes “lifestyle” projectors, another category the company has been steadily growing with models such as the Hisense C2 Ultra and M2 Pro, to the next level by incorporating features typically found in high-end front projectors, such as an 17-element all-glass lens system, 7-step manual iris control, motorized optical zoom, and motorized focus and lens shift. With a specified brightness of 6,000 ANSI lumens, the XR10 is also significantly brighter than any lifestyle projector I know of, not to mention most home theater front projectors.

What is it?

The Hisense XR10 is a DLP projector with a dual RGB laser light source and motorized 2.38x optical zoom. A 0.84-2.0:1 throw ratio allows it to project images ranging from 60 to 300 inches diagonally, and it supports both ceiling and tabletop installations. It uses a native 1080p DLP chip, with four-phase pixel shifting to display 4K-resolution images on screen.

Like most other “portable” projectors (at 11.5 x 10.7 x 8.4 inches and 23.4 pounds, the XR10 is definitely a bit extra for the category), the XR10 offers fully automated setup, with its four-camera intelligent sensing solution scanning the area where the projection screen is mounted to provide automatic picture alignment and focus. For permanent installations, you can forgo automated setup in favor of the projector’s manual controls, with manual zoom and focus augmented by a motorized lens shift offering up to ±130% vertical and ±46% horizontal adjustment.

A projector specified for 6,000 ANSI lumens of brightness is bound to generate some heat, and the XR10 dissipates it using a liquid cooling system — a design approach similar to what’s found in high-performance gaming PCs. The XR10’s dual triple-laser light engine is also specified to deliver 118% of the BT.2020 color gamut, which is wider coverage than you can expect even from the new breed of RGB TVs. High dynamic range support on the XR10 is more comprehensive than what you’ll find on typical home theater projectors, extending to Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG. The XR10 also supports 3D playback (3D glasses not included).

Most Hisense projectors have an elegant, vintage-tech design, and the XR10’s rounded corners, bronze-hued case and top-mounted volume control dial make it stand out from the often industrial-looking projector crowd. A screw insert for a tripod stand is located on the bottom surface, and the back panel contains two HDMI 2.1 and one HDMI 2.0 inputs, along with an optical digital audio output, 3.5mm audio input, two USB and Ethernet ports. The XR10 comes packaged in a faux-leather, rolling carrying case, and this classy accessory has the same vintage look and bronze hardware accents as the projector itself.

A built-in 2.1-channel, 31W speaker system tuned by French audio manufacturer Devialet provides surprisingly clear and full sound on the XR10 and it supports both Dolby Digital and DTS Virtual:X. Bluetooth 5.4 lets the projector’s built-in speakers be used for music playback and there are sound presets for theater, music, dialogue enhancement and more.

Hisense’s own VIDAA smart TV platform is used for streaming on the XR10, which is the first projector I’ve tested with Wi-Fi 7 support. A wide range of streaming apps is provided, including Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV, YouTube and more. AirPlay streaming is supported, and you can perform voice-controlled content searches using the projector’s full-size, backlit remote, which includes a built-in microphone for that purpose.

Gaming support on the XR10 includes ALLM, a High Refresh Rate option, and DLP Turbo Mode. With the latter setting turned on, all automatic setup controls, such as picture position and keystone adjustments, are disabled. There’s also a dedicated Game Bar menu for making quick gaming-related picture and sound adjustments. Using a Bodnar 4K meter, I measured input lag on the XR10 at 17 ms with Game mode and DLP Turbo Mode turned on. The XR10 also supports 1080p/120Hz and 1080p/240Hz input, with measured input lag of 23.3 ms and 4.6 ms, respectively.

Setup

Before doing any picture setup and measurements on the XR10, I first made a point of turning off the projector’s Automatic Light Sensor setting in the advanced picture menu. Measurements were made using Portrait Display’s Calman Color Calibration software and the projection screen I used for testing was a 92-inch, 1.1-gain Stewart CIMA matte white model, with the projector positioned on a tripod 8 feet away from the screen.

The XR10’s brightness in the Filmmaker Mode picture preset (default settings) was 4,044 ANSI lumens and 3,438 ANSI lumens in the Standard preset. The highest brightness reading I measured was 5,424 ANSI lumens in Vivid mode with Brightness Enhancer in the projector’s Advanced Settings menu set to High. The Ultra Brightness Enhancer setting would likely have yielded even higher brightness results, but the picture took on a strong green-ish cast with Ultra active, making that setting unusable.

Brightness uniformity measured at 9 separate points across the display area was an impressive 94%.

The XR10’s BT.2020 color gamut coverage measured 96.9%, while P3 coverage was 99.5%. That BT.2020 result falls below the 118% figure in Hisense’s specifications, but it is still a solid result compared with other RGB laser projectors. With the projector in Filmmaker Mode, Delta-E (the margin of error between the test pattern source and what’s displayed on-screen) averaged a relatively high 7.8 for grayscale accuracy, with the projector showing an overly warm, reddish bias.

Switching the Color Temperature preset from Warm 1 to Warm 2 yielded a cooler grayscale, while calibration using the projector’s 2-point White Balance adjustments (20-point adjustment is also available) reduced the average grayscale Delta-E to 1.3. Delta-E for color points on the XR10 averaged 2.8, and I was able to reduce it to 2.2 through calibration.

Contrast ratio results for the XR10 were as follows:

Visually, the best picture contrast came with the projector’s iris in Manual mode and set to either 2 or 3. Other manual iris settings resulted in an overly dim picture, while the Iris Off setting produced elevated, grayish blacks.

As for the other picture settings I used for evaluation in Filmmaker Mode, Gamma was set to 2.4, Dark Detail was turned on, Scenario Enhancement was switched off, and Adaptive Contrast was set to Medium. Settings on the XR10 can be configured independently for both HDR and SDR sources, though White Balance settings are shared between those modes. The XR10 also features a Dynamic Tone Mapping setting for HDR, but I found that it added a pinkish tint to whites when active, so I left it switched off.

Viewing Impressions

Before I say anything else about the Hisense XR10, I want to mention that its picture is bright enough to make viewing in a well-lit room possible. Watching a Major League Soccer match between St. Louis and Salt Lake with the Standard preset active, the picture had a punchy look, with crisp highlights and bold colors. Detail was also excellent, and I didn’t notice any serious instances of the “laser speckle” artifacts that laser-based projectors are prone to.

Looking at reference 4K Blu-rays on the XR10, the James Bond film No Time to Die showed somewhat elevated blacks in dark scenes, but the picture otherwise had good contrast and rich, yet natural, color. Importantly for this movie, there was only a minimal level of judder and blur visible in a shot where Bond traverses a hillside cemetery. In the motorcycle and car chase scenes that followed, the fast-paced action also had a solid presentation.

Another reference disc, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, worked well to showcase the XR10’s strong color performance, with the movie’s computer-generated animation displaying an appropriately vivid quality.

continued to be impressed with the XR10 when I switched to watching the sci-fi drama Pluribus (Season 1, Episode 6), which I streamed through the VIDAA smart platform’s Apple TV+ app. Watched in Dolby Vision HDR, the picture displayed strong overall contrast, with the sparkly highlights of a green dress worn by a cocktail server in a Las Vegas hotel casino popping on the screen. Chips on poker tables also came across as a radiant blue, and the various hues of the sports cars arrayed outside the casino entrance had a rainbow-like effect. (But not the “rainbow effect” typically seen on DLP projectors, which I also found to be fairly minimal with the XR10 compared with other projectors I’ve tested.)

The somewhat elevated blacks I noted when watching dark scenes in No Time to Die continued to be an issue when I checked out an episode of House of the Dragon, a show with more than its share of dark scenes set in gloomy castles. But this series, along with others in the Game of Thrones universe, can be challenging even for OLED TVs with their superior black levels, and I still noted a good level of shadow detail despite the XR10’s limited overall black depth.

With the XR10’s high brightness, Blu-ray 3D discs in my collection looked as good as I’ve ever seen them. IMAX: Deep Sea had an excellent sense of visual depth that brought the coral reefs and undersea creatures into strong relief against the watery backgrounds. Scenes inside the base in Avatar also displayed great depth, and the skin of the Na’vi came across as a rich blue hue. Support for 3D is a feature that’s starting to disappear from front projectors, so the XR10 gives 3D movie fans an excellent projector option.

Before I wrap this review up, I will say something about fan noise on XR10. Given the projector’s liquid cooling system, I expected fan noise to be a bit lower than it was, and fan noise definitely increased when I played with the Brightness Enhancer settings. Any noise was generally masked by sound coming from the XR10’s built-in speakers, however, and a more traditional home theater audio setup would undoubtedly go even further in masking fan noise.

The Bottom Line

The Hisense XR10 is something of an odd duck in the projector world: part portable/lifestyle projector and part home theater front projector. Fortunately, it acquits itself well for both tasks. You can easily get crisp, bright, well-focused images when temporarily installing the XR10 using its fully automated setup features, and if you want to permanently install it and painstakingly tweak its picture, it offers all the manual controls you’ll need to do just that.

At $5,999.99, the Hisense XR10 is quite a bit more expensive than other lifestyle projectors on the market, but it’s priced very competitively with other home theater projectors, while offering features you typically won’t find in that category, such as a smart TV interface with apps for streaming, potent built-in speakers, and automated setup. It also offers wider than usual HDR format support, Dolby Vision included, and higher than average brightness.

Is there any other feature Hisense could have added to this otherwise feature-packed projector? A dynamic iris similar to those found in some other home theater models would be welcome, and such a feature would possibly improve the XR10’s contrast. But overall, I found that the XR10 delivered very impressive picture quality, and when you consider all that it does, good value as well.

Pros:

• RGB laser light engine
• High brightness
• Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support
• Extended BT.2020 and P3 color space coverage
• Iris adjustment for enhanced contrast
• Automated setup options
• Motorized optical zoom 
• Motorized focus and horizontal/vertical lens shift
• Devialet-tuned built-in audio
• VIDAA smart TV platform for streaming
• 3D support

Cons:

• Limited black depth
• Slightly high fan noise

Our Ratings:

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture Quality

★★★★★★★★★★ Design

★★★★★★★★★★ Usability

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound Quality

★★★★★★★★★★ Features

★★★★★★★★★★ Value

Where to Buy

Related Reading

Apple has begun selling ads on Apple Maps and is offering incentives to advertisers to get it going. Just don’t bother if you’re a plumber or politician.

It’s been a very long time coming, but Apple is now allowing ads on Apple Maps, and as of August 14, 2026, has begun targeting advertisers with incentives.

According to Media Post, firms in the US and Canada can now enroll in what Apple is calling “Ads on Maps.” There are various conditions to do with the size of companies, but eligible ones that order by October 11, 2026, will get a discount.

Much as with any of Apple’s discounts, it doesn’t work as you’d expect. Rather than giving an advertiser a lower rate, the discount can only be applied to the next month’s spend.

There are limits, too, in how such eligible ad agencies get a 15% discount which maxes out at $1,000. And it is also only valid for the first year.

For users, Apple has insisted that the ads will be a help rather than a hindrance. “Maps with ads is just as private as Maps without ads,” a spokesperson said in March 2026. “Personal data stays on your device, is not collected or stored by Apple Ads, and is not shared with third parties.”

What Apple is telling advertisers is that there are already over a billion searches for businesses on Apple Maps every month. It says that around 50% of such searches result in the user in some way engaging with the business, such as getting directions to drive to retail sites.

Apple already takes advertising across its App Store and it’s presenting Apple Maps as one more outlet for its Apple Ads service. If a business is already advertising using that service, this becomes an extra option alongside their current ads.

If a firm doesn’t yet advertise but has more than five retail locations, Apple’s sales team will direct them to sign up to Apple Ads. Firms with fewer locations can buy the ads directly in the existing Apple Business tool.

The idea is that ads will only surface when a user searches for something relevant. But then if they do get an ad, that ad will include calls to action such as quickly getting them directions to the store.

Who can’t advertise

Political parties are not allowed to advertise on Apple Maps. It’s hard to see what user searches could usefully result in an ad for those anyway, unless someone really wants to know the way to campaign headquarters.

There will also be no alcohol advertising, although supermarkets are allowed. Apple will refuse religious ads, gambling, medical aids and more.

One already known but still not explained category of ads that will not be accepted is the home services one. No plumbers or electricians can advertise on Apple Maps.

It’s good that Apple Maps has strict rules like this, but if you need a plumber, you really need one. Fortunately, Google Maps allows their ads.

Existing advertisers in the US and Canada can learn more from business.apple.com. New advertisers can also sign up for Apple Ads there.

The Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is warning that hackers are actively exploiting a macOS authentication bypass vulnerability after public exploit code emerged.

The security issue lies in macOS Screen Sharing, a built-in remote desktop feature that allows remote desktop control over a network, using the VNC protocol over TCP port 5900.

Apple fixed CVE-2026-65400 on August 6 in macOS Tahoe 26.6.1 and earlier releases. The flaw allows network-based attackers to gain access without valid credentials.

An attacker could use this access to open applications remotely, access files, change security settings, and perform various other actions.

In an update to the initial advisory, the Dutch agency said it received a report indicating that the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild in attacks where port 5900 is exposed to the internet.

According to the NCSC, the attacker obtained root access to the system and deployed a Monero cryptocurrency miner.

“The NCSC has received a notification indicating that active abuse of this vulnerability has been observed on multiple systems on which port 5900 was accessible from the Internet,” reads the Dutch agency’s update.

“In all these cases, root had been accessed on the affected system, and a Monero crypto miner had been placed.”

macOS users are recommended to upgrade their system to one of the following releases, which address CVE-2026-65400:

• macOS Tahoe 26.6.1
• macOS Sequoia 15.7.9
• macOS Sonoma 14.8.9

These releases improve state management mechanisms to enforce correct credential validation and prevent rogue authentication attempts.

Where system updates are not immediately possible, users can use System Settings to disable Screen Sharing (General → Sharing → Screen Sharing) if not needed.

NSCS has not shared any details about the reported attacks, when they started, if they extend beyond cryptocurrency mining, or how many systems have been impacted.

Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after initial access. Once attackers are using valid credentials, prevention drops sharply.

The Blue Report 2026 measures defenses technique by technique across 338 million simulations run in customer production environments.

Get the report

The moderately successful Star Wars film The Mandalorian and Grogu will be available to stream via Disney+ on September 2. This is just over three months after the film hit theaters and six weeks after it became available to rent or purchase in a digital format.

For the uninitiated, this is a sequel film to the hit series The Mandalorian, which is the show that launched the Disney+ platform. Both the series and the film follow the exploits of the titular Mandalorian bounty hunter and his cute and cuddly ward, a 55-year-old member of Yoda’s species that presents as a baby. They age differently. It’s a whole thing. 

The galaxy’s favorite duo is bringing the adventure home.

Stream Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu on @DisneyPlus September 2. pic.twitter.com/1FdjwklA1V

— Star Wars (@starwars) August 14, 2026

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The Mandalorian was so successful that it spawned an entire interconnected Star Wars universe on TV. This led to direct sequel shows, like The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.

The Mandalorian and Grogu received a fairly muted response from critics, with many saying it seemed more like a series of TV episodes stitched together than a proper movie. I saw it and tend to agree with that assessment, though it’s a fun enough romp that’s perfect for a Friday night Disney+ watch party.

As a matter of fact, it’s likely to perform rather well on Disney+. It’s a pretty decent flick for older kids and teens. The stakes are fairly simple and there isn’t all that much dialog. That’s because the two lead characters are a puppet and a guy in full body armor that barely speaks. Later, they are inexplicably joined by the muscular (?!) son of Jabba the Hutt. Like I said, it’s a fun enough romp.

This could even help Disney+ with customer retention. Obviously, I’m not privy to what’s going on over there, but it doesn’t seem like the platform cares all that much about its two most popular IPs. There’s only one big Star Wars show on the horizon and that’s season two of Ahsoka.

We haven’t heard that much about Marvel either. There’s a show about Vision coming in October and the third season of Daredevil: Born Again next year, but that’s about it. That said, it’s possible the company is holding onto some cards until its big D23 presentation, which happens this weekend.

AI labs offer a range of models with different capabilities and prices, with costs varying further according to the version of a model and the “effort” settings used. Customers are typically charged for input tokens, used to measure data fed into a model, and output tokens, which measure what it generates in response.

The latest price cuts from US labs apply to mid-tier products and make them more competitive with Chinese offerings. OpenAI, for example, cut the price of GPT-5.6 Luna from $1 to $0.20 per million input tokens and from $6 to $1.20 per million output tokens.

Anthropic launched Opus 5 at $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens—half the price of its Fable 5 model. This week, the company called off a planned rise in prices for its Sonnet 5 model, which had been due to take effect from September.

Headline token prices do not provide a straightforward comparison between AI models, however. More capable models can sometimes complete a task using fewer tokens or with fewer attempts, meaning a model that appears more expensive based on the headline price of tokens can ultimately cost less.

Additionally, most can operate at different “effort” settings, which vary the computing power used to answer a question and can affect both performance and the ultimate cost of completing a task.

Artificial Analysis, which benchmarks models across areas including math, science, coding, and reasoning, found Anthropic’s Opus 5 at “medium” effort delivered similar performance and cost per task to Moonshot’s Kimi K3 at “max” effort. OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Luna at “max” effort performed similarly to DeepSeek’s V4 Flash at “max,” but cost just under twice as much per task.

Anthropic and OpenAI declined to comment.

A person close to Anthropic said Opus 5’s pricing below its flagship Fable 5 was how the startup’s “family of models is built, so there’s no connection to competitors.”

Mantas Lukauskas, AI tech lead at Hostinger, a website hosting provider that has used large language models since 2020, noted that prices for the very best models were “flat to rising.”

He added that the recent pricing changes are the “first real test” of whether groups such as Anthropic and OpenAI can protect the cost of their most advanced offerings: “The US labs have cut the middle and are defending the top.”

© 2025 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied, or modified in any way.

The companies did not reveal which areas they plan to expand to, but Pony told SiliconRepublic.com that further details will follow.

Uber and Pony AI are expanding their partnership to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across Europe.

The two first began collaborating in 2025 by bringing Pony robotaxis onto Uber’s platform in international markets outside the US – starting in Zagreb, in partnership with Croatian mobility company Verne.

Now, they intend to expand this to four additional cities across the continent. The companies did not reveal which locations they plan to focus on, but a Pony spokesperson told SiliconRepublic.com that further details will follow. The expansion will also see robotaxi rollouts to the Middle East, the two said.

Uber’s 200m-plus active user base and a growing network of human drivers, combined with Pony’s level-4 autonomous driving technology and rider experience, are expected to help the two scale their plans for wider robotaxi deployment.

The US ride-hailing platform has major autonomous vehicle (AV) goals, with plans in place to expand robotaxis to London, Madrid, Munich, Hong Kong and a number of US cities. The company already operates AVs across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh, alongside US cities Atlanta, Austin and Dallas.

Uber also has existing partnerships with May Mobility, Lucid and Nuro, China’s Baidu and WeRide, and the UK’s Wayve to test and deploy AVs across metropolitan areas worldwide. It also works with Nvidia – which unveiled open-source AI models for self-driving vehicles earlier this year – to further develop the tech behind its robotaxis.

The 2016-founded Pony, meanwhile, operates fully driverless robotaxi services in four Chinese cities, where it claims to have achieved city-wide breakeven unit economics in multiple markets, “validating its commercially sustainable model for operating robotaxis at scale”.

“This expanded agreement marks an important new phase in the partnership between Pony AI and Uber. It reflects our shared commitment to bringing safe, reliable robotaxi services to more European cities,” said Dr James Peng, the founder and CEO of Pony.

“By combining Pony AI’s proven autonomous driving technology and operational know-how with Uber’s global mobility platform and extensive market reach, we aim to build sustained commercial operations at scale across Europe and beyond.”

Pony announced the launch of an AV mobility pilot programme earlier this year with Bolt and Stellantis to test out its seventh-generation robotaxis in Luxembourg.

Pony posted robotaxi revenue growth of nearly 400pc year-over-year in its quarter ending on 31 March this year. The company expects to end the year with a robotaxi fleet exceeding 3,500 vehicles deployed in more than 20 cities worldwide.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

from the what-free-speech? dept

It still amazes me that there are people out there who think that Donald Trump is a supporter of free speech. It has never been true. Anyone who looks will note that the Trump administration regularly engages in clearly unconstitutional attempts to suppress speech. But because he and his supporters like to claim he’s a free speech supporter, they believe it.

But here’s yet another story showing how that’s bullshit. The Wall Street Journal has a detailed report on how Trump’s personal secret police militia, ICE, is actively investigating, intimidating, and silencing people who criticize them online.

In recent months, ICE has deployed a round-the-clock digital dragnet to scour the public internet—from Facebook to Instagram to X—for speech that could endanger the agency’s mission. The government has paid millions to private contractors to surface everything from potential threats to agents to activities that could disrupt ICE’s operations, according to federal documents, contractors and former Homeland Security Investigations agents.

The program has ensnared U.S. citizens and activist groups that alert community members about ICE activity. Contractors prepare daily reports and dossiers on threat actors, identifying the poster’s name, location, date of birth, workplace, Social Security number, vehicle registration and criminal history when possible. 

To unmask anonymous online critics, DHS has sent hundreds of subpoenas to social-media companies, according to people familiar with the matter. Its agents have tracked down Americans at work and on the road, asking them to sign letters acknowledging their online speech about ICE “may” be a crime.

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Criticizing ICE online is not a crime. It’s protected speech under the First Amendment. I’d point out that all of this clearly violates Trump’s early executive order on free speech, but did anyone ever take any of that seriously? It was always just red meat to throw out to his cultish base, rather than anything real.

Indeed, you can see that in the fact that the very same MAGA trolls who falsely insisted that the Biden admin was actively “censoring” people on social media will be quick to defend what ICE is doing here, even though it’s way more clearly an attack on the First Amendment rights of ICE’s critics.

DHS sent administrative subpoenas to Reddit for the information of 11 accounts that had posted “content critical of federal actions” between July and December of last year, the company’s most recent transparency reporting period, according to a person familiar with the matter.

While the article notes that Reddit (thankfully) pushed back on these requests, this is still quite different from the reports the Biden administration occasionally sent to social media companies, which tended to be much more “does this violate your rules?” not “reveal who these critics are.”

The article notes that these attacks on free speech appear to be ratcheting up as ICE and Trump grow more desperate to control the narrative around their secret police activities. That escalation now includes seeking grand jury subpoenas for critics’ information. And now that Trump gave ICE a lot more money, they’re investing millions in surveillance tech to track down online critics:

In the past year, OPR spearheaded an initiative to dramatically expand the agency’s ability to monitor online critics and potential threats, according to contractors, federal documents and former HSI agents.

Teams of contractors now scour the internet using sophisticated surveillance tools to find commentary that the agency regards as potentially dangerous.

ICE spending on surveillance technology and consultants has surged, reaching $258 million during Trump’s first full year back in the White House, a 57% increase from the same period a year prior, according to the Journal’s analysis.

ICE has inked at least six contracts that involve scanning public records for “threats,” paying out nearly $50 million since 2020. More than half those funds were obligated since last January, and another award potentially worth up to $50 million the agency continues to extend. The most recent awards call for contractors to help the agency geolocate individuals labeled as “extremists,” compile reports on individuals and cross-reference information with government databases, contracting documents show.

Of course, MAGA folks will claim they have to track down “threats,” but much of the content doesn’t sound threatening at all. For example:

… a New York poll worker named Paigelynne Gonyea received a voicemail from a man identifying himself as an agent with Homeland Security. 

“We were just calling you in reference to a post that we believe you made on Instagram where you doxxed an ICE agent back in January,” said the caller. 

Shortly after, two agents from ICE OPR arrived at the voting site where she was working. 

They held printed screenshots from her account, she said, including the post in question. The agents flipped by it quickly, she said, but she caught one thing: The post included a photo of Ross, the immigration officer who killed Good.

The file that agents were holding also contained Gonyea’s address, date of birth and what looked like a picture of her taken at airport security, she said. They told her to take down the post and asked her to sign a letter acknowledging she had been informed that she “may” have violated federal law with her social-media account.

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Gonyea said she was only able to find one post that spoke about a specific ICE agent:  ”I think today is a great day for Jonathan Ross to be indicted!” the 40-year-old influencer and author had written in the post, referencing the Minnesota Star Tribune article that first named him. 

All of this is textbook behavior for thin-skinned authoritarians unwilling to tolerate even the mildest criticism. But in America, we’re supposed to have rights, including the right to free speech. But somehow all the people who claimed that Biden was suppressing speech have gone completely silent about stories like this one. Trump claiming to be the free speech president and claiming to outlaw anyone in the government from suppressing free speech means absolutely nothing as activities like the ones described here continue to happen daily.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, donald trump, free speech, ice, intimidation, paigelynne gonyea, surveillance