Iceb
lock App Tops Apple Charts After CNN Report
After being highlighted in a national TV news program, an anonymous software that allows users to report local Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities has soared to the top of Apple’s charts.
On Tuesday, July 1, ICEBlock, an app that warns users of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities, topped the Apple App Store charts.
As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 1, ICEBlock was ranked No. 1 in the social networking category and No. 3 overall among free apps on the App Store. On the app that analyzes reports of when ICE officials are in a region, the increase occurred one day after CNN’s article.
Other people within a five-mile radius can see sightings, and they automatically go away after four hours. Users are not needed to create accounts, and the program does not gather any personal information.
Veteran tech developer Joshua Aaron started ICEBlock in April. He claimed that he created the software to help communities remain informed without endangering themselves.
Aaron likened ICE’s detention practices and President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown to Nazi Germany.
Aaron told CNN that “we’re literally watching history repeat itself.” “‘What if there was an early-warning system?’ I asked myself. That’s how ICEBlock came to be.
When contacted about the report on Monday, June 30, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the app, but ICE declined to comment to CNN.
“I’ll have to go back and watch the clip myself, but surely it sounds like this would be an incitement of further violence against our ICE officers,” Leavitt stated. “There’s been a 500% increase in violence against ICE agents, law enforcement officers across the country who are just simply trying to do their jobs and remove public safety threats from our communities.”
Leavitt also expressed her displeasure with CNN, which the Trump administration has long targeted.
“Certainly, it’s unacceptable that a major network would promote such an app that is encouraging violence against law enforcement officers who are trying to keep our country safe,” she stated.
But according to ICEBlock, the program isn’t used to attack ICE agents.
“Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only,” the instructions page for ICEBlock states. “It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement.”
At the time of CNN’s story, the app had over 20,000 users. Large-scale deportation activities have sparked national outcry, and many of them were in Los Angeles.
Aaron refuted claims that the app encourages aggression. According to him, ICEBlock has safeguards in place to prevent fraudulent reports, such as requiring users to be within five miles of the sighting and limiting their posting frequency to once every five minutes.
Because its developers claim that creating a comparable Android version would necessitate data collecting that could put users in risk, ICEBlock is exclusively available on iOS.
“We don’t want anybody’s device ID, IP address, location,” Aaron stated. “We don’t want anything to be found out. Anyone who wishes to utilize it can do so for free and in complete anonymity.
Aaron also attacked tech executives for actions done to curry favor with Trump when he took office again.
“I think I would say grow a backbone,” Aaron remarked. “You cannot focus solely on the money. I am aware that you have to answer to your stockholders. I am aware that your workers depend on their wages, but when do you decide that “enough is enough”?
Trump’s immigration policy is still one of the most contentious topics in the nation, which is why ICEBlock shot to the top of the App Store. 52% of Americans thought Trump’s deportation efforts had gone too far, according to an April ACNN poll.
On the same day that Trump toured the brand-new immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” the app also topped the charts. The temporary facility constructed to house hundreds of migrants has drawn criticism for resembling a concentration camp; some have even dubbed it “Alligator Auschwitz.”
The contentious detention facility is situated at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, almost two hours southeast of Fort Myers and 90 minutes west of Miami.
