Apple has removed ICEBlock, the app which allowed users to put a pin on a map to show where ICE agents have recently been spotted, from the App Store. It has also pulled other apps that served a similar purpose. According to Fox Business, Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded their takedown, telling Apple that the apps were "designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs." Bondi added that "violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed." She also said that the "Department of Justice will continue making every effort to protect [its] brave federal law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe.""We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps," Apple told the publication in a statement. "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."Bondi demanded the apps' removal after the FBI and the administration reported that the gunman who attacked an ICE facility in Dallas used tracking apps, including ICEBlock, to open fire from a rooftop. The gunman killed two immigrants and injured a third, but he was allegedly targeting ICE agents. Joshua Aaron, the app's developer, told Fox Business that he was "incredibly disappointed" by Apple's actions. "Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move," he said. "Apple has claimed they received information from law enforcement that ICEBlock served to harm law enforcement officers. This is patently false." Aaron 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 reign down on the people of this nation."ICEBlock climbed to the top of the App Store charts in July after administration officials slammed it, making more people aware of its existence. At the time, officials warned Aaron that they were "looking at him, and he better watch out" because the app threatens the lives of law enforcement agents. NBC News reports that it was downloaded more than 1 million times since it was introduced. Tom Homan, the administration's "border czar," recently told Fox News that the government will investigate the "people who put these apps up" because they put "law enforcement at great risk."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-removes-iceblock-from-the-app-store-after-trump-administrations-demand-031659651.html?src=rss

The makers of ICEBlock, the community-based reporting app for ICE sightings and activity, are suing the federal government, alleging "unlawful threats" made by Trump administration officials led to the app's removal from app stores. The suit centers on free speech violations and accuses the administration of coercing Apple into taking down the app in October. Google began taking down similar apps around the same time.Josh Aaron developed ICEBlock in response to the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. The app allowed users to pin ICE agent locations on a map as well as add notes such as what agents were wearing or the kind of vehicle they were driving. The app would then alert users within a five-mile radius of the sighting. The White House called the app "an incitement of further violence against... ICE officers" and sought its removal.A lesson we should all take from this is when we see our government is doing something wrong, it is our duty to stand up," Aaron told the New York Times.This isn't the first time Apple has faced controversy for an app takedown. In 2019, the company removed an app that protesters in Hong Kong were using to track police after facing pressure from the Chinese government.Apple, for its part, said it took the app down in response to "information we've received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock." Federal officials said the gunman who attacked an ICE facility in Dallas had used tracking apps, including ICEBlock."Fundamentally, ICEBlock neither enables nor encourages confrontation - it simply delivers time-limited location information to help users stay aware of their surroundings in a responsible and nonviolent way," Aaron's suit reads.Engadget has reached out to Apple for comment and will update if we hear back.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-developer-behind-iceblock-is-suing-the-federal-government-165111674.html?src=rss