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Apple said on Thursday that it had removed ICEBlock and other similar ICE-tracking apps from its App Store after it was contacted by President Donald Trump's administration, in a rare instance of apps being taken down due to a U.S. federal government demand.
Alphabet's Google also removed similar apps on Thursday for policy violations, but the company said it was not approached by the Justice Department before taking the action.
The app alerts users to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area, which the Justice Department says could increase the risk of assault on U.S. agents.
[...] Apple removed more than 1,700 apps from its App Store in 2024 in response to government demands, but the vast majority — more than 1,300 — came from China, followed by Russia with 171 and South Korea with 79.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 08, @04:05PM (7 children)
Also, it's not just them that ICE is going after. They have gone after scientists and academics, engineers, college kids, and plenty of other educated professionals, many of whom were in this country completely legally or are in fact US citizens. They've also roughed up and arrested several elected officials.
ICE has stated in court that they consider sufficient justification for grabbing somebody, tying, and then locking them up and holding them captive for at least a few hours is:
1. They're brown.
2. They speak a language other than English in a public place.
3. They wear clothing that ICE has decided might indicate they're part of a gang, no matter how normal or innocuous it might be on someone who isn't brown or is speaking American English fluently.
The US Supreme Court has apparently decided that's perfectly legal for them to be doing.
And they don't even follow their own rules on this, and their real criterion seems to be simply "they're brown" or "they annoyed ICE agents". Oh, and they also appear to have no rules at all about use of force, and are allowed to hit anybody they like for any reason they like with any weapon they like, even moreso than the police.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by corey on Wednesday October 08, @09:10PM (4 children)
> ICE has stated in court that they consider sufficient justification
For real? Got any refs? Seems wild.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday October 09, @02:24AM (3 children)
The main case [theguardian.com], also known as Noem v Vasquo Perdomo, states explicitly that looking Hispanic, speaking a language other than English, and holding a job that the ICE agents have decided is something illegal immigrants might be doing is enough for ICE to grab somebody and lock them up. Notice that none of those are illegal for US citizens to do, and the named plaintiff in the case was a US citizen and there was zero evidence that he had committed any kind of crime.
The SCOTUS majority offered no legal explanation or justification at all for why this was OK for ICE to do.
Yes, it's wild.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by corey on Thursday October 09, @08:31PM (2 children)
Thanks.
I do see some logic in finding illegal immigrants using those criteria. But it’s out of line for a modern democracy, it’s very 1930s, and there are better ways to achieve the goal.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday October 10, @01:07AM
I mean, if you grab 1000 people off the street at random, it's probably the case that some of them have done something bad, and some of those that have done something bad have gotten away with their misdeed up until now. Of course, a lot of the rest of them have done nothing wrong, and that really sucks for them.
Among other problems, if your government's goal is to reduce crime, and you're going to get arrested whether or not you're criminal, that significantly reduces the incentive to not commit crimes. Which strongly suggests that a government doing this sort of thing isn't trying to reduce crime, but instead trying to make everybody on the street scared that they might be next and angry enough that it was them or somebody they cared about that they might try to strike back at the cops who are arresting people for no reason. And when the people start striking back at the cops, the government can then turn around and say "LOOK! THERE'S A REBELLION GOING ON RIGHT THERE! WE HAVE TO START LETTING OUR BRAVE TROOPS KILL IF THEY FEEL THREATENED, IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO STOP IT!!!!!111!!!"
As you said, a bit 1930's Germany. As in, that was the exact tactic used to make their Republic no longer a Republic.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday October 10, @06:11PM
But it’s out of line for a modern democracy, it’s very 1930s
Yes, GERMAN 1930s. I never thought "Your paperss Pleass" would ever be heard in America outside a film or stage!
The Republicans (today's Banana Republican forerunners) said they were against Social Security because they feared the Social Secirity card would become identification. Today they insist in RealID.
Mad at your neighbors? Join ICE, $50,000 signing bonus and a LICENSE TO MURDER!
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 10, @07:02PM (1 child)
Most, if not all, of ICE's assholery could have been headed off, if local police forces had just COOPERATED with ICE. FFS, there are hundreds of cases that have been made very public of pure stupidity. Illegal alien molests a child, gets arrested, has ten kilos of drugs and some guns confiscated, and the judge TURNS HIM LOOSE! It does no good for ICE to put a detainer on such a criminal, because crazy judges continue to turn those criminals loose. Tom Homan put the nation on notice soon after he took over. He TOLD liberal judges and sanctuary citizens, "If you won't give us the criminals, we're going to be in your neighborhoods!" No one listened. The system, if you want to call it that, continued to turn dangerous criminals loose. Homan made good on his word, and he's now raiding sanctuary cities all across the country.
You can call ICE a bunch of assholes, and I'll accept that. But, you need to look at the ignorant sons of bitches who allow illegal aliens to break myriads of laws, without any penalty. No matter how liberal or how conservative you are, surely you want to deport the dangerous criminals! But activist judges refuse to allow that to happen.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 4, Touché) by Tork on Friday October 10, @07:47PM
They're not targeting dangerous criminals, hence the conflict.
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