Singing Santas in Portland Protest Apple’s ICEBlock Ban
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Protests are continuing outside an Apple Store in Portland, Oregon, with demonstrators showing up in Santa suits to dance, sing, and protest the removal of the ICEBlock app from the App Store.
A few dozen protestors showed up outside the Apple Pioneer Place store on December 9. The “Protest Apple’s Censorship” demonstrations will be held twice more before Christmas, on December 13 and December 20 from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. PST, according to the event page.
Apple removed the ICEBlock app from the App Store in October after Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded the app’s removal, claiming it was being used to harm ICE agents. Although new users can’t download the app, it’s believed to still work on iOS devices where it’s already been installed.
The Cupertino company has since removed other related apps from the App Store, even those that do not use location data.
For example, Apple also removed Eyes Up, an app that merely archived videos and articles documenting actions taken by ICE under the current administration. The app was used to preserve TikToks, Instagram reels, news reports, and other videos that the creators say could be used as evidence of abuses by ICE.
Google has also removed all ICE-related Android apps from the Google Play Store.
While the protests are unlikely to result in the app being restored to the App Store, they do let Apple know that many users are unhappy about the removal of ICEBlock and related apps.
Apple has faced some difficult decisions in recent years, dealing with governmental demands from the likes of the United Kingdom, China and Russia, in addition to the United States.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has spent the time since President Donald Trump entered office walking a tightrope, trying to appease the administration to keep his company out of Trump’s line of fire.
While Apple’s choice in the ICEBlock situation definitely doesn’t make the company look good, it is beholden to its stockholders, and bowing to government demands and dealing with a bit of protester backlash is easier than explaining to investors why it has been hit with additional tariffs and sanctions.
“We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps,” Apple said in a statement provided to Business Insider. “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.”
On December 8th, iDrop News reported that the developer of ICEBlock, Joshua Aaron, had filed a federal complaint in the District of Columbia demanding a jury trial. The complaint alleged there had been unconstitutional threats placed against Apple and Aaron, as well as a violation of Aaron’s First Amendment rights. The filing claims, “For what appears to be the first time in Apple’s nearly fifty-year history, Apple removed a U.S.-based app in response to the U.S. government’s demands.”
While they wait for the court battle to play out, protestors will likely continue to show up outside the Portland Apple Store.
Anyone looking to join the protest can find more information at the protest’s “event page.” Be sure to warm up your singing pipes, as the page has planned songs for protestors to warble, including such go-to classics as “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot More Fascist,” “Surveille ICE,” and “Do You Fear What I Fear?”
Here is a sample of the lyrics to Surveille ICE, sung to the tune of Silent Night:
Surveille ICE, Document ICE
Lawless, masked thugs who cosplay at night
ICEBlock was once approved as an app
You could bell that bad cat with just two taps
Put ICEBlock back in the Store
Put ICEBlock back in the Store
