Tech Billionaire Enabling ICE Deportations Calls for Public Hangings To Bring Back 'Masculine Leadership'

Joe Lonsdale, the billionaire co-founder of data analytics giant Palantir, has sparked widespread condemnation after calling for the return of public hangings.

The proposal, made on the social media platform X on 5 December, has drawn sharp criticism from academics and civil liberties advocates, who highlight the danger of such rhetoric from a figure whose company develops mass surveillance technology for government agencies.

Lonsdale's Call for 'Masculine Leadership'

In a post shared on 5th December, Lonsdale wrote: 'If I'm in charge later, we won't just have a three strikes law. We will quickly try and hang men after three violent crimes. And yes, we will do it in public to deter others.'

The billionaire venture capitalist, who has an estimated net worth of £2.8 billion according to Forbes, added that 'our society needs balance' and declared 'it's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable'.

Silicon Valley's Authoritarian Turn Raises Alarm

Gil Durán, a journalist who tracks authoritarian trends in the tech industry, described Lonsdale's comments as evidence that tech elites are 'entering a more dangerous and desperate phase of radicalisation'. Durán noted that Lonsdale, a protégé of controversial billionaire Peter Thiel, appears to be 'fantasising about a future in which he will have the power to unleash state violence at mass scale'.

The comments coincide with Palantir's expanding role in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations. In April 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded the Denver-based firm a £23 million contract to develop mmigrationOS. The surveillance platform is designed to identify, track and facilitate the deportation of suspected non-citizens.

According to federal documents, the system provides ICE with 'near real-time visibility' on individuals. Leaked internal communications from Palantir revealed the company has become a 'more mature partner to ICE'. Amnesty International has raised concerns, warning that ImmigrationOS facilitates 'constant mass monitoring' and carries 'significant risks to the human rights of all immigrants'.

Rhetoric Mirrors Authoritarian Playbook

Taulby Edmondson, an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech, warned that Lonsdale's rhetoric contains 'even darker intonations than calls for state-backed violence'. Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll characterised the comments as 'immaturity masquerading as strength'.

The controversy began after Lonsdale defended social media posts from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that boasted about military strikes against suspected drug smuggling vessels. When criticised, Lonsdale argued that 'sinking narco boats publicly helps deter others'.

Social media users responded with alarm to Lonsdale's proposal, with many pointing out the implications of the phrase 'if I'm in charge later'. When Australian writer Claire Lehmann criticised Hegseth's remarks as 'grotesque', Lonsdale fired back, arguing that 'sinking narco boats publicly helps deter others'.

The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties

Civil liberties advocates have raised alarms over the convergence of Lonsdale's rhetoric with Palantir's technology. The company's platform pulls data from numerous government databases, creating an unprecedented surveillance apparatus.

Palantir has secured over £700 million in federal contracts since President Donald Trump returned to office. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a Palantir investor and architect of mass deportation plans, has played a key role in immigration policy.

Critics warn that this concentration of power represents a dangerous fusion of authoritarian ideology and technology. Experts caution that Lonsdale's comments are not merely provocative but offer a window into the worldview of those who wield enormous political and technological influence.