• by Wendy Davis , 5 hours ago

The Trump administration is fighting a lawsuit by the creators of the app EyesUp and Facebook group “ICE Sightings - Chicagoland,” who claim that their tools were removed by Apple and Meta Platforms due to coercion by the federal government.

Eyes Up allowed people to post videos about Immigrations and Customs Enforcement activity, and the Facebook group enabled people to report about ICE activity in the Chicago area. The tools were taken down by Apple and Meta in October, soon after administration officials publicly criticized ICE reporting tools.

Kassandra Rosado, who created the Facebook group, and Kreisau Group, which created Eyes Up, are suing Attorney General Pamela Bondi and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over the takedowns, arguing that the officials violated the First Amendment by coercing the tech companies to remove lawful speech.

The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from "continuing to coerce" Apple and Meta.

The Department of Justice opposes that request, arguing in papers filed Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Alonso in the Northern District of Illinois that the allegations in the complaint, even if proven true, wouldn't show that the apps were taken down due to coercion.

"Plaintiffs cannot establish that Facebook or Apple did not remove their content based on independent motivations to moderate content and enforce pre-existing policies," the federal government writes.

The complaint referenced statements by the officials, including Bondi's remark on Fox News that she was eyeing the developer of a different reporting app -- ICEBlock -- and that he “better watch out."

"Bondi and Noem violated the First Amendment by strong-arming intermediaries (Apple and Facebook) into suppressing plaintiffs’ speech," the complaint alleged.

On October 13, Meta said it suspended the Chicagoland group because it “goes against the Community Standards on coordinating harm and promoting crime," according to court documents.

At the time, the group had been active for more than eight months. Rosado subsequently created a new group,“ICE Sightings -- Chicagoland 2,” which has around 50,000 members, according to the complaint.

When Apple removed Eyes Up, the company said the app violated a guideline (number 1.1.1) that specifically prohibits “defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups."

Apple elaborated as follows: "Information provided to Apple by law enforcement shows that your app ... violates Guideline 1.1.1 because its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group."

Apple had approved Eyes Up five weeks before removing it.

One day after the tools were removed, Bondi tweeted, "Today following outreach from @thejusticedept, Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target @ICEgov agents in Chicago. ...The Department of Justice will continue engaging tech companies to eliminate platforms where radicals can incite imminent violence against federal law enforcement."

Noem posted a similar sentiment: "Today, thanks to @POTUS Trump's @TheJusticeDept under the leadership of @AGPamBondi, Facebook removed a large page being used to dox and threaten our ICE agents in Chicago."

The plaintiffs' court papers called attention to those tweets, arguing they were evidence that the government coerced Meta.

"Before receiving the government’s demands, Apple and Facebook had no problem with Eyes Up or the Chicagoland group," the plaintiffs argued.

The Department of Justice counters in Monday's filing that the tweets by Noem and Bondi weren't threats "because they were published after Facebook removed Rosado’s group, and simply announce the action taken by Facebook."

"At most, these posts establish that Bondi or a Justice Department representative contacted Facebook," the federal government argues. "Mere communication between government officials, Apple, and Facebook is not enough to establish coercion."

Alonso hasn't yet indicated when he will issue a ruling.