Apple pressured to explain Trump role in ICE-tracking app removals
Lawmaker rejects Apple excuse for banning ICE-tracking apps as unconstitutional.
Lawmaker rejects Apple excuse for banning ICE-tracking apps as unconstitutional.
The short version
- Apple continues to face backlash for removing ICE-tracking apps like ICEBlock from the App Store , a drastic step that seemed to be triggered by Trump administration claims that the apps endangered officers.
- Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Apple has no evidence to support claims that apps raised safety concerns.
- Instead, the lawmaker accused Apple of using immigrant deaths with no connection to the apps to justify censoring Americans who have the right to record ICE activity.
What happened
It appears that Apple is “working with the government to violate its customers’ First Amendment rights to record and report on the activities of their own government,” Raskin said in a letter to Apple sent Monday, CNN reported . Raskin had been hounding Apple for answers for months.
Why it matters
In July, Apple finally explained to Raskin that ICEBlock was removed, along with other apps, after a fatal shooting left two detainees dead at a Dallas ICE office, CNN reported.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.