Overview

• DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi said they are working with the Justice Department to explore charges against CNN and ICEBlock’s developer for allegedly encouraging evasion of law enforcement operations
• Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned CNN’s report on ICEBlock as reckless and accused the network of inciting violence as assaults on ICE agents have reportedly increased by 500%
• CNN maintained that reporting on ICEBlock was lawful and that the network exercised standard journalistic practices by covering a public app and seeking ICE’s comment
• Launched in April by Joshua Aaron as an anonymous early-warning tool, ICEBlock has grown to over 20,000 users in major cities and climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store charts
• Civil liberties advocates warn that prosecuting a news outlet for reporting on a publicly accessible app could violate First Amendment protections and set a troubling precedent