In short
- The Doj under Pam Bondi demanded that Apple Iceblock dropped, while Google Red Dot CITING SAFETY brought down.
- IJsblock maker Joshua Aaron called the removal a violation of the rights of the first amendment.
- Aaron warned that the constitutional rights are “being removed” and promised a legal fight.
Google and Apple bend for federal pressure, attracted two popular apps, ice blocks and red dot, with which users can crow about American immigration and customs enforcement activities, referring to the safety of officers after a deadly snout shooter attack on an IJsbureau in Texas.
On Thursday, Google and Apple both removed the Red Dot app. Apple also pulled the iOS-specific Iceblock app after the US Department of Justice formally demanded the removal under Attorney-General Pam Bondi. Bondi said in a statement Fox News That the app “was designed to jeopardize ice officers only for their work”, and promised to protect federal law enforcement officials.
Joshua Aaron, maker of Iceblock, said that Apple’s removal blinded him.
“The app was thoroughly screened for three weeks by the legal and senior officials of Apple before approval,” he said Decodeer. “It’s fine all this time. For them to do it now, that’s why I say that I am so disappointed.”
Aaron, a software developer and the lead singer of the rock band that steals Heather, released Iceblock in April. In July, when ice operations in the United States increased, Iceblock became viral after he was called by Bondi, who called it a tool for “signaling criminals where our federal officers are.”
Aaron said that Apple did not reach him or gave him the chance to appeal against the decision.
“Apple did not call me, even though we were number one in the App Store for weeks and had 1.14 million users who counted here every minute of their day,” he said. “They have just given me a letter that said that we have received information from the law enforcement that your app focuses on whether damage is caused by law enforcement officials.”
Aaron compared Iceblock with regular navigation tools such as Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze.
“To say somehow that Iceblock is doing something different than that is ridiculous,” he said.
The federal pressure is increasing
Apple’s removal came after Bondi’s Doj formally asked to pull the app, stating the safety of the officer.
“We made the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps. Based on information we have received from law enforcement about the safety risks related to Iceblock, we have removed these and similar apps from the App Store,” Apple said Fox News.
Google repeated that sentiment with the removal of red dot, so far that it suggests 404 Media That Ice Agents are a ‘vulnerable group’.
“Iceblock was never available on Google Play, but we have removed comparable apps for violations of our policy,” a Google spokesperson said Decrypt. The spokesperson, who said that the federal government did not reach the search giant, said that the Red Dot app was removed because of “high risk of abuse” and rules around content generated by users.
On September 24, a sniper attack killed a prisoner and injured two others in an ice facility in Dallas. Authorities said that the suspect strived for ice officers and had searched his phone for following apps, including Iceblock, before he opened the fire.
Aaron called the Takedown a ‘first amendment violation’, and said that he is planning to combat it in court and in the media.
“This is not an app removed from the App Store; this is a technology company that removes something that is clearly a app protected by the first amendment,” he said. “Nothing is developing illegally.
He also rejected the description of Ice Agents as a ‘vulnerable group’.
“They gave $ 170 billion to create their own paramilitary power in this country,” he said. “Saying that they are in danger is at his pretty laughable.”
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment Decodeer.
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