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56m ago

ICEBlock Developer Sues U.S. Officials, Alleging Government Pressure Led Apple to Pull App

The lawsuit argues federal coercion turned Apple’s App Store decision into unconstitutional censorship under the First Amendment.

FILE - A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen in Park Ridge, Ill., Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (L) and US Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) listen to US President Donald Trump speak as he signs an order sending National Guard to Memphis in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2025. US President Donald Trump said on September 15 he was signing an order sending a federal "task force" including National Guard troops to the city of Memphis, in the latest stage of his crime crackdown that critics have branded authoritarian. "The effort will include the National Guard as well as the FBI" and other federal agencies, Trump told reporters at a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, adding that it was "very important because of the crime that's going on."
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Overview

  • Joshua Aaron filed a federal suit naming Attorney General Pam Bondi, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, ICE acting director Todd Lyons, and White House border adviser Tom Homan.
  • The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment and an injunction to bar officials from pressuring app distributors and to protect Aaron from threatened prosecution.
  • Apple removed ICEBlock in October after saying law enforcement provided safety-risk information, while Bondi publicly said she asked Apple to take it down.
  • ICEBlock, which uses crowdsourced reports to alert users to nearby ICE activity, surpassed one million downloads after Apple initially approved it following legal review.
  • House Homeland Security leaders have demanded briefings from Apple and Google by December 12 and cited a Dallas shooting in their letters, though reporting notes no evidence the gunman used ICEBlock.