Meta Platforms
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Meta Platforms |
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| Industry | Social media; digital advertising; technology |
| Country | United States |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Menlo Park, California, United States |
| Parent company | |
| Status | Active |
| Verification |
Verified |
Overview
Meta Platforms, Inc. is a U.S.-based technology company that owns and operates major social media and advertising platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Public reporting and advocacy documentation describe Meta-owned platforms as carrying paid recruitment advertisements for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies as part of large-scale digital recruitment campaigns active in 2025. Meta is also one of the world’s largest political advertising distributors, with extensive influence over information visibility through algorithmic ranking and content moderation systems. [1]
Boycott
Meta Platforms is listed for boycott due to its role in materially supporting U.S. immigration enforcement agencies through advertising distribution, its documented algorithmic and moderation practices affecting political and human-rights content, and its record of political financial contributions connected to Donald Trump–associated events.
In 2025, reporting confirmed that ICE recruitment advertisements were distributed across Meta-owned platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, prompting criticism from immigrant-rights organizations, civil-liberties groups, and platform users, and leading to renewed calls for boycotts and advertiser pressure campaigns. [2]
Meta has also faced sustained scrutiny over algorithmic amplification and content moderation practices. Investigations and whistleblower disclosures over multiple years have documented how Meta’s algorithms prioritize engagement-driven content, including political misinformation, while disproportionately suppressing or deprioritizing content related to Palestinian rights, immigration enforcement abuses, and other human-rights topics. Advocacy organizations argue that these practices amount to algorithmic interference in political discourse rather than neutral content moderation, contributing to real-world harm. [3]
Meta has additionally faced renewed criticism for documented political donations connected to Donald Trump–associated events. Public records show that Facebook (now Meta) made a corporate donation to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee in 2017, funds that were used for inaugural events held at Trump-owned properties, including ballroom facilities associated with Trump venues. These donations have been repeatedly cited by advocacy groups as evidence of corporate financial normalization of Trump-linked political power structures. [4]
Advocacy groups argue that the combination of ICE/DHS recruitment support, algorithmic manipulation of political visibility, and documented Trump-linked political donations places Meta in direct conflict with its stated commitments to human rights, election integrity, and corporate responsibility, justifying its inclusion in organized boycott campaigns. [1]
Background
ICE and DHS increasingly rely on private-sector digital platforms for recruitment advertising and public messaging. Meta’s scale across social networking and targeted advertising gives it an outsized role in shaping political visibility and enforcement capacity. ICE List documents Meta due to the cumulative impact of its advertising services, algorithmic control over political discourse, and publicly documented political financial activity intersecting with immigration enforcement policy and power. [1]