The US government agreed to stop pressuring Apple and Facebook to restrict platforms that report ICE activity. FIRE said on Friday that the government will end these efforts following a lawsuit. A judge ordered that officials must not demand or pressure companies to suppress the specific group and app.
WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Free speech group FIRE said on Friday the US government agreed to end efforts to press Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Facebook (META.O), opens new tab to restrict platforms created by two Americans reporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
FIRE sued the federal departments of Justice and Homeland Security in February.
It alleged that Facebook's disabling of plaintiff Kae Rosado's group, "ICE Sightings - Chicagoland," in response to demands by federal officials had violated Rosado's free speech rights.
The suit alleged the same violation over Apple's removal of Eyes Up, an app created by plaintiff Mark Hodges for sharing videos of ICE operations, under government pressure.
The DOJ and DHS, whose top officials were the defendants in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
As part of an agreement with FIRE to resolve the case, the free speech group said the government agreed to make permanent the preliminary injunction the court previously entered in favor of the plaintiffs.
An order, opens new tab by US District Judge Jorge Alonso said the federal government "shall take no actions, formal or informal, to demand or pressure" Facebook and Apple to suppress the "ICE Sightings - Chicagoland" Facebook group and the Eyes Up app.
ICE, which is part of DHS, has been the face of Republican President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and deportation drive that rights groups say has violated free speech and due process rights.
Human rights groups also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
Trump says his actions aim to improve domestic security. Democrats, who won majorities in both chambers of Congress in the US midterm elections, say they aim to hold the Trump administration accountable for its immigration policies.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Rod Nickel
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Kanishka Singh
Thomson Reuters
Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.