Apple has capitulated to demands from the Trump administration and removed apps from its App Store that allowed users to track ICE officers.
The company removed ICEBlock, a crowd-sourced app that allowed users to report sightings of ICE goons around the country, from its App Store.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement to Fox News, “We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so. ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed.“
The Department of Justice raised concerns that the app put officers at risk.
The news comes days after MAGA far-right influencer Laura Loomer published an exposé identifying the creator of a similar app, Red Dot. Loomer said Red Dot was available in both Apple and Google’s app stores “despite the fact that law enforcement has confirmed violent, Leftist radicals are using these apps to locate ICE agents and shoot them.”
The FBI has previously said that the perpetrator of a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas last week that killed two immigrants and injured a third had used apps that allowed him to track the presence of ICE officers.
Loomer celebrated the app’s removal and highlighted several similar apps were still available on the Google Play store, writing, “Your move, @Google!”
A statement from Apple confirmed that it had also removed similar apps at the same time.
Apple told CNBC, “We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps. Based on information we’ve received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store.”
The creator of ICEBlock told 404 Media that he was disappointed by Apple’s decision.
“Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move,” creator Joshua Aaron told the outlet. “ICEBlock is no different from crowd-sourcing speed traps, which every notable mapping application, including Apple’s own Maps app, implements as part of its core services.”
An email sent to Aaron by Apple and seen by 404 Media explained that ICEBlock was removed because “its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group‚” which is a violation of the App Store’s guidelines involving objectionable content.
Aaron disagreed, telling 404, “This is protected speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
He added, “We are determined to fight this with everything we have. Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to rain down on the people of this nation. We will not be deterred. We will not stop. #resist.”
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