Apple officially removes controversial ICE-tracking app from iPhone app store
Apple has officially removed the controversial ICE-tracking app from the App Store.
The app, known as ICEBlock, was previously available to download on iPhones.
Explaining the situation, the app’s developer Joshua Aaron took to social media to detail the message he received from Apple over its app review.
In a post on Bluesky he wrote: “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!”
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The purpose of the app is to anonymously report any sightings of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and allow users to view sightings that have been reported within a 5-mile radius of them.
It recommends that ‘everyone should install #ICEBlock to protect themselves and their communities’.
It rose in popularity over the summer but has since become a topic of tension from the government, as US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described ICEBlock as an ‘obstruction of justice’.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has since taken credit for the app’s removal, said that it was ‘not a protected speech’.
Speaking to Fox News Digital about the ban, Bondi said: “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.”
However, developer Aaron has denied these claims, calling it ‘patently false’.
This isn’t the first time that the tech giant has banned an app of this nature as, back in 2019, Apple removed the HKMap.
The app enabled Hong Kong protesters to allow the movements of law enforcement in the area.
However, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees at the time that the firm had received ‘credible information from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau’ that the app was being used ‘maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimize individuals and property where no police are present’.
Back in August, the Bluesky account for ICEBlock celebrated the milestone of passing one mission users on the app, writing: “So excited to announce that #ICEBlock has crossed the 1 million user mark and is growing by leaps and bounds every day. #resist.”