Apple’s removal of ICEBlock sees repeated protests at Portland Pioneer Place store

Protests outside of an Apple Store in Portland, Oregon continue in retaliation to ICEBlock being removed, as protestors show up in Santa suits to demand the app’s return and Apple stand up to authoritarianism.

Residents in Portland, Oregon might have passed a group of a few dozen protestors dancing, singing, and wearing Santa outfits outside of the Apple Pioneer Place store on December 9. There are two more planned protests before Christmas, even as the ICEBlock developer sues the US government for a first amendment violation.

The “Protest Apple’s Censorship” protest will occur again on December 13 and December 20 from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. PST according to the event page. It appears to be done in the spirit of other protests occurring that are directed at the Trump administration’s immigration policies — cute, silly, and demonstrative of their peaceful nature with costumes and music.

Apple is a trillionaire, multinational corporation, but that doesn’t mean that a single protest can’t make a difference. The removal of ICEBlock from the App Store after government pressure is yet another unfortunate overstep and exemplary of Apple’s power over its platform as sole app distributer.

While it is unlikely that Apple will cave to the demand, as it would no doubt incur immediate and incredible retaliation from the US government, it demonstrates to Apple how unhappy users are about the choice. The reason Apple provided for the app’s removal was that the US government claims it was being used to harm federal agents.

Of course, there is zero evidence of the app being used that way, but instead of challenging the claim, they immediately removed the app. Since ICEBlock’s removal, other apps, even ones not related to location data, were removed from the App Store as well.

Google also removed all ICE-related apps from the Google Play Store.

Apple fans struggle with a grim reality

Just as Apple has had to face difficult choices when dealing with places like Russia and China, the demands of the United States are a difficult problem to tackle. Apple CEO Tim Cook has spent the past year since Trump won the election ensuring that Apple stayed out of his line of fire.

Perhaps removing ICEBlock was another part of that strategy, as the company would rather deal with customer backlash than sanctions, tariffs, and the like. At the end of the day, as much as Apple fans may not like it, Apple is a corporate entity and its leadership is beholden to the shareholders.

While Apple’s choice in this case doesn’t take the moral high ground, it does take the cold, calculated route of being the best business decision. It’s situations like these that ensure that Cook will likely stick around until the Trump administration leaves office in 2029, so he can absorb all the collateral damage before retiring.

There is seemingly no end to what demands the current administration will make, and there’s no way of knowing if Apple has a stopping point where it will push back. At the least, while ICEBlock was no doubt a useful and essential tool, it seems those pushing back against ICE are finding other clever solutions, like whistles.

So, if you want to make your voice heard and you’re in the Portland area, there are at least two protests to attend. Be sure to brush up on your classic carols like “Cook the Collaborator,” “Do You Fear What I Fear,” and “Beginning to look a lot more fascist.”

Yes, the protest has planned songs, found on the event page.

Whatever your stance on the United States administration, we can all agree that the right to protest is a fundamental one. We will continue to cover the movements around ICEBlock and report if Tim Cook’s heart will grow three sizes by Christmas.