Dem
47
GOP
53
While we are on the general subject of caving, bullies, and folks doing stuff they shouldn't be doing, Apple is back in the news (after promising it would invest $500 billion in the U.S. over the next 4 years to prevent Donald Trump from throwing his iPhone in the Potomac in a fit of rage). This time, all Apple had to do was remove an app, ICEBlock, from the App Store that Trump doesn't like. The app allows anyone to report the presence of ICE whenever The ICEman Cometh.
By crowdsourcing the location of ICE raids, people who feel vulnerable to potentially being arrested and deported, even if they are U.S. citizens who have committed no crime, can see places they should avoid for the time being. Trump didn't want Apple (or Google, which removed the app from its store, too) to make it possible to get information about where ICE raids were ongoing. Trump didn't call Apple CEO Tim Cook directly. He outsourced the work to AG Pam Bondi, who proudly took credit for giving the order.
The creator of the app, Joshua Aaron, went on MSNBC to explain why he wrote the app. Here is his explanation:
He said he sees the country becoming like Nazi Germany with government officials arresting people on the streets without probable cause and detaining them without a trial. He felt people needed a way to protect themselves so he created one. He also likened it to apps like Waze that allow users to alert drivers to the presence of police on the road. Waze is not blocked. (V)