Apple removed an app used to track Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from its app store, according to the developer.
The app, ICEBlock, was reportedly removed due to its “objectionable content,” the developer complained.
The free app tracks ICE agents by asking users to report sightings of ICE "within a 5-mile radius of your current location."
While Apple allegedly claimed the app’s content was objectionable, it quickly gained popularity with over a million downloads as of last month, according to the developer.
"We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps," Apple said in a statement. "Based on information we've received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store."
Trump admin. sees app removed
The ICEBlock developer blamed "pressure from the Trump Admin."
US Justice Department officials confirmed to CBS News that they requested the app be removed.
"We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. "ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed. This Department of Justice will continue making every effort to protect our brave federal law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe."
Sharing similar sentiments with the American site, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, claimed that apps that track ICE agents "put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings."
She added, "But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed."
The app’s developers wrote on its website in response, “We are incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move. Apple has claimed that it received information from law enforcement that ICEBlock served to harm law enforcement officers. This is patently false.
“ICEBlock is no different from crowd-sourcing speed traps, which every notable mapping application, including Apple's own Maps app, implements as part of its core services. This is protected speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
“We are determined to fight this with everything we have. Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to rain down on the people of this nation. We will not be deterred. We will not stop. #resist”