Apple has removed from its App Store, ICEBlock – described as “Waze but for ICE sightings”. The app launched back in April after Donald Trump announced a crackdown on immigration.
ICEBlock provides people with a way to report sightings of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents. The US Department of Justice was among those voicing concerns that agent tracking put people’s lives at risk, particularly in light of attacks on ICE facilities.
Now it seems that Apple has bowed to the pressure exerted by the DoJ, the FBI and the White House. Attorney General Pam Bondi is claiming the move was the result of her work, saying:
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.
On Fox News, ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron says:
Apple has claimed they received information from law enforcement that ICEBlock served to harm law enforcement officers. This is patently false.
Posting on Bluesky, the developers of app struck a defiant tone, saying:
We just received a message from Apple’s App Review that #ICEBlock has been removed from the App Store due to “objectionable content”. The only thing we can imagine is this is due to pressure from the Trump Admin.
We have responded and we’ll fight this! #resist
With over a million users, the removal of the app by Apple will raise the ire of a lot of people.
This is far from being the first time that Apple has hit tracking apps with a ban hammer, and each time it has done so there have been accusations of censorship and authoritarians thrown around.This time around things are unlikely to be any different, particularly given the strong feelings immigration and ICE tend to evoke.
