Apple and Google are blocking everyday people from holding immigration agents accountable.
John,
Apple and Google are working hand-in-hand with the Trump administration to end the ways that everyday people hold ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents accountable.
Two apps that helped document the actions of immigration agents and warn people of their presence were deleted from app stores. Why? Because the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi made a phone call.1 The largest apps that let people document ICE activity and warn their neighbors were gone. Legal. Protected speech. Removed overnight simply because the administration asked.
Big Tech bowing to pressure from an authoritative administration must end. And it starts with Apple and Google terminating their contracts with ICE and CBP.
Apple and Google are picking a side. They build tools that help ICE and CBP track immigrants and then remove apps that hold these rogue agencies accountable and warn community members. They’re choosing profits over humanity and justice.
Apple says "Privacy is a fundamental human right." Google's motto used to be "Don't be evil" (and even now, “You can make money without doing evil” is item 6 on their “Ten things we know to be true.”).2 But both companies folded instantly at the slightest pressure.
All of this is part of a larger pattern of tech companies trying to curry favor with the Trump administration even before the inauguration, but communities are fighting back. They’re using platforms like ResistMap, which is built outside the app stores and beyond corporate reach.
No one should have to maneuver around corporate censorship to document government abuse and protect their neighbors.
