Last October’s ICEBlock was removed from the App Store following pressure from the US government. Now, the app’s developer, Joshua Aaron, is suing 14 representatives of the administration. Here are the details.
ICEBlock developer fights back
As soon as ICEBlock became the go-to crowdsourced app for registering sightings of immigration officers, the US government got involved.
Following a CNN report featuring the app, US Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that apps such as ICEBlock risked “jeopardizing the safety of DHS personnel,” and threatened Aaron personally, stating that “we are looking at him,” and he’d “better watch out”.
Then, after pressure from the government, Apple began removing ICEBlock and similar apps from the App Store, stating that they fell within the “objectionable content” category of the App Store review guidelines.
Now, as spotted by NPR, Aaron has filed a lawsuit against:
Pam Bondi, referred to in the lawsuit as Attorney General, United States Department of Justice
Kristi Noem, referred to in the lawsuit as Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security;
Todd Lyons, referred to in the lawsuit as Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
Thomas Homan, referred to in the lawsuit as White House Border Czar
... continue reading