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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 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!