Overview
- The Department of Homeland Security deleted an AI‑generated Transformers‑style social post that told “Mr Singh” to “self‑deport” after Indian‑American and Sikh groups and Democratic officials condemned the image as racially discriminatory.
- Thursday’s takedown followed a DHS campaign promoting its CBP Home voluntary exit programme that used a poster and related videos naming several drivers and urging reports of alleged illegal commercial drivers.
- Community groups said the single‑name reference and the depiction of a bearded man wearing a head covering singled out Sikhs and Indian Americans and risked fueling xenophobia against a community heavily represented in U.S. trucking.
- Hasbro said the Transformers imagery was used without permission, and the episode has prompted questions about how federal accounts create AI content and whether there was oversight of copyrighted likenesses.
- DHS defended the material as targeting an individual, Harjinder Singh, and rejected critics’ claims, but advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers have called for further investigation and accountability over messaging and AI governance.