AI-driven ICE takedown request shows registrars can override hosts
A host refused a removal demand, yet domain-level action still knocked an accountability database offline.
Hosting provider FlokiNET says ZeroFox used AI-driven detection to flag a public-interest database under its $15 million DHS contract, but the host rejected the removal request after reviewing the site. The same morning, the registrar placed the domain on serverHold, taking it offline until it moved, while FlokiNET said it could not see who within ICE initiated the claim or what human review occurred. Outsourcing detection and routing complaints through domain infrastructure lets automated enforcement shift information-access decisions to gatekeepers with little public accountability.