ICEBlock creator sues Trump administration officials saying they pressured Apple to remove it from the app store

In this photo illustration, the ICEBlock app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on October 2, in Los Angeles. The app enables users to report public ICE agent sightings in real time. (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)

ICEBlock app creator Joshua Aaron is suing the Trump administration, accusing it of abusing government power and infringing on his free speech by pushing Apple to remove ICEBlock from its app store.

Aaron argues that ICEBlock — which was designed to allow users to alert others nearby about public sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area — represents constitutionally protected speech, according to a complaint filed in Washington, DC, federal court on Monday.

Aaron “believes that speech about publicly observed law and immigration enforcement activity – the expression enabled by ICEBlock – lies at the heart of the interests the First Amendment was intended to protect,” the complaint states.

ICEBlock had more than one million users at the time of its removal, according to Aaron. Users who already had the app downloaded can still use it, but new downloads are blocked and Aaron told CNN he worries threats from administration officials may have discouraged existing users from using it.

The suit names U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, as well as U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, White House Border Czar Tom Homan and other, unnamed federal officials, as defendants.

Representatives of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Justice Department declined to comment, but pointed CNN to Bondi’s previous statements. “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,” Bondi said in October.

Aaron has repeatedly denied that ICEBlock puts agents at risk. “What I hope comes out of this is more of the public waking up to what’s going on,” Aaron told CNN of his decision to file the suit. “I certainly hope that we set a precedent that they can’t continue to quell and chill free speech. They can’t continue to erode our constitutional rights.”

The fight comes after Republican lawmakers have previously criticized and investigated former U.S. president Joe Biden’s administration for what they said was inappropriately pressuring big tech companies to remove certain types of content.

The ICEBlock fight

Aaron launched ICEBlock in early April amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. He called the app an “early warning system” for users when ICE is operating nearby, and has said it was designed to help people avoid contact with agents but not to interfere with their operations. When users log a sighting on the app, they see a notice saying: “Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only. It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement.”

He has likened ICEBlock to widely used map apps that allow users to crowdsource information about police speed traps.

After CNN reported on the app in June, Trump administration officials railed against the platform, claiming it put ICE agents at risk. Lyons released a statement criticizing CNN’s report and saying that ICEBlock “basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs” and that “officers and agents are already facing a 500 per cent increase in assaults.”

Bondi also told Fox News in June that Aaron should “watch out, because that’s not protected speech.”

In October, Apple removed ICEBlock and similar apps from its app store, making them unavailable for download, following a request from the U.S> Justice Department.

Apple told Aaron in an email that ICEBlock violated the app store guidelines and that it had received information from law enforcement suggesting the app’s “purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group.”

After Aaron responded to Apple saying ICEBlock had previously been approved for the app store, the company reiterated its note about having received information from law enforcement that the app put agents in harm’s way, the complaint states.

Bondi confirmed the U.S. Justice Department’s role in the app’s removal in a statement at the time to Fox News Digital, saying, “We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so.”

The app was only available on Apple’s iOS; Aaron previously said he would not be able to guarantee anonymity for users on Android.

Aaron told CNN he hopes the lawsuit will uncover more information regarding communications between the company and administration officials.

Aaron alleges that Bondi’s pressure on Apple to remove the app amounts to censorship by making ICEBlock “unavailable to the public,” according to the complaint. His complaint also states that threats from administration officials to investigate and criminally prosecute him over the creation of ICEBlock “were intended and designed to chill Aaron and others from engaging in expressive activity – specifically, sharing information about publicly observable law-enforcement actions – and to deter technology companies and journalistic institutions from supporting, amplifying, or facilitating such speech.”

The lawsuit seeks a declaration that what it describes as the government’s pressure on Apple and threats toward Aaron violated the First Amendment, and an order blocking similar statements going forward.