January 14, 2026
Copyright Strikes Back
DHS Deportation Reels Are Getting Copyright Strikes for Unlicensed Music Use
Internet roasts DHS: cruel memes, double standards, and artists shouting ‘pay up’
TLDR: DHS’s deportation reels used popular music without permission, triggering takedowns and public rebukes from artists. Comments slam the clips as cruel propaganda and double standards, joke the agency needs Spotify, and debate whether a government with no real penalties will ever follow the rules.
DHS is flooding Instagram with deportation hype—487 posts in 2025 alone—mixing old-school propaganda with modern memes, and the internet is not having it. The loudest chorus? Outrage that the government is trying to make suffering look cool. As one user snapped, “Trying to make other people’s suffering a meme,” while another fumed that ordinary folks would get banned for far less. Artists are chiming in too: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club blasted DHS for using their version of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” without permission in a video featuring DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (link), and Kenny Loggins asked that “Danger Zone” be pulled from a Trump Truth Social clip (link). Songs by MGMT, Jay-Z, and Tom Petty also got flagged.
Cue the drama: some cheer the copyright strikes as karma; others shrug that the government just does what it wants. One hot take declared, “You can just do things as long as no one physically stops you,” summing up the mood. Meanwhile, jokes fly: DHS “needs Spotify Premium,” “ICE, ICE, baby… but no license,” and “the government playlist from hell.” Whether you see it as propaganda or PR gone wrong, the community is roasting the reels—and asking why rules only seem to apply to everyone else.
Key Points
- •DHS posted 487 times on Instagram between January 26 and November 10, 2025, over 28% of its total posts since 2014.
- •DHS’s social media campaign promoting immigration enforcement mixes propaganda and memes, using popular imagery and audio.
- •Several creators objected to DHS’s use of copyrighted music without permission.
- •Black Rebel Motorcycle Club criticized DHS for unlicensed use of its rendition of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”; the Kristi Noem–featured video was removed.
- •Kenny Loggins requested removal of “Danger Zone” from an AI video posted by Donald Trump on Truth Social; the article also references cases involving MGMT, Jay-Z, and Tom Petty.