Apple has removed the controversial app ICEBlock and similar software from its App Store after a request from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The company cites “safety risks” for law enforcement officers as the reason. The move follows intense criticism from Trump administration officials who claimed the app endangered ICE agents.
Apple sent an email to Joshua Aaron, founder of ICEBlock, saying it had removed the app after receiving information from law enforcement regarding safety concerns, CNN
reported.“We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps,” the email stated.
ICEBlock allowed users to anonymously report and view locations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents within a five-mile radius. Reports automatically disappear after four hours. The developer said the app had more than one million users before its removal.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that her office demanded Apple remove ICEBlock.
Bondi told Fox News that the app is “designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs,” and argued that violence against law enforcement is a “red line that cannot be crossed.”
Aaron, the founder of ICEBlock, disputed the characterizations. He said the app was intended to warn residents of ICE activity, not to facilitate violence.
“I am incredibly disappointed by Apple’s actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move,” Aaron told 404 Media.
Though Aaron believes the app and its usage fall snugly under the First Amendment, Google disagrees. Following Apple’s lead, the company also removed ICEBlock from Google Play, The Verge reported.
It is unclear if the move constitutes censorship and selective enforcement of app policies. User input features exist in apps like Waze and Google Maps, but remain available.
Existing users who previously downloaded ICEBlock will still be able to use it, but new downloads are no longer possible.
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