Apple has removed ICEBlock, an app that allows users to mark on a map where they have spotted ICE agents, from its App Store. The company also removed other similar apps after Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded their takedown, citing them as a threat to law enforcement.
Bondi said the apps were “designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs” and that “violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed.” Apple confirmed the removal, saying, “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 demand for the apps’ removal came after the FBI reported that a gunman who attacked an ICE facility in Dallas had used tracking apps like ICEBlock. The gunman killed two immigrants and injured a third, but was allegedly targeting ICE agents.
The app’s developer, Joshua Aaron, told Fox Business he was “incredibly disappointed” by Apple’s decision. “Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move,” he said, calling the claim that his app was meant to harm law enforcement “patently false.” “Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to rain down on the people of this nation,” he added.
ICEBlock became one of the most popular apps in the App Store in July after administration officials publicly criticized it, which ironically made more people aware of it. Government officials have warned that they will investigate the creators of these apps, stating that they put “law enforcement at great risk.”
