A court has stopped the U.S. government from forcing Apple to take down ICE reporting apps from the App Store, due to it being a violation of the First Amendment.

In February, a lawsuit from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) took aim at the U.S. government over the right to report the activities of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

The preliminary finding, issued on April 17, lands in FIRE's favor, with the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice being prevented from coercing Apple and Facebook into removing apps and interfering with communications.

The lawsuit concerned itself with Eyes Up, an app that allowed users to post videos and details about ICE activity. However, in October 2025, Apple removed apps that performed similar actions, including ICEBlock, Red Dot, and Eyes Up.

At the time, the apps were told by Apple that it had received information from law enforcement for violations of the App Store guidelines. Specifically, guideline 1.1.1 prohibits defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content.

Another plaintiff of the lawsuit, the Facebook group "ICE Sightings - Chicagoland," was disabled on October 14, with Facebook notifying that it went against community standards.

This occurred at the same time as then-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to social media about the matter. Bondi said that Facebook closed a large group used to dox ICE agents in Chicago after outreach from the Department of Justice.

First amendment injunction

The eight-page memorandum opinion and order deems that the government agencies reached out to Apple and Facebook and demanded the takedowns, rather than requesting an investigation. Furthermore, both the tech giants had to deal with the thinly-veiled threat of prosecution for failing to comply.

Because of this, the court believes that the plaintiffs are "likely to succeed" in claiming the government violated their First Amendment rights by coercing the platforms they use.

This was enough for the plaintiffs to secure a preliminary injunction.

In a statement from FIRE Senior Attorney Colin McDonell, the organization is extremely encouraged by the ruling. "Even though it's not the end of the case, it bodes well for the future of our legal fight to ensure that the First Amendment protects the right to discuss, record, and criticize what law enforcement does in public."

While there will almost certainly be more to go in the legal fight, the injunction does at least allow the plaintiffs to work with Apple and Facebook to restore their work on their respective platforms.