Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App ‘Red Dot’
https://www.404media.co/google-calls-ice-agents-a-vulnerable-group-removes-ice-spotting-app-red-dot/Open linkView original on feditown.com1183
Comments184https://www.404media.co/google-calls-ice-agents-a-vulnerable-group-removes-ice-spotting-app-red-dot/Open linkView original on feditown.com
Vulnerable to Fascism?
Well, I'm sure they wouldn't give encryption keys away.
VulnerableSusceptibleI think they're less "vulnerable" and more "fragile"
"Afraid of any sort of accountability"
Oh? Are we giving them privacy?
if they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear
Yeah, maybe it would be in our interests to make all government communications public access. If it isn't a matter happening outside our borders, have it open. Maybe a classification for certain discussions that requires they be released in a timely manner, and when reviewed by a 3rd party if any information is attempted to be hidden they are immediately removed from their position and an investigation starts as to whether the offense should be criminal.
The timely manner would have to be monitored as in "we are going to performing a drug raid" they get a warrant that allocates them 2 days to have discussions pertaining to that topic, organize and execute it. Then release all communications immediately following. If they don't believe they can perform it in that time they need to submit it in their warrant request as to the reason why, time period, and date the information will be made public.
If we wrote strict laws on it, the judges would be held accountable for giving out warrants brazenly, and the executive branch would be kept in check by such
Maybe we should consider some sort of informational freedom act.
That's a great idea. They can always choose to totally ignore it if it ever becomes inconvenient like the Epstein files.
Federated solutions which can't be stopped, self hosted, and available via Fdroid.
Only real answer.
Until Google revokes publishing privileges for side-loading applications. I think we'll have to go further and get used to making PWAs and regular websites.
You mean "installing normally." "Sideloading" is fucking anti-property-rights loaded language.
Good point. Wild how these ghouls have normalized their bullshit language.
Do you have a better, simple word for what they're banning?
installing?
downloading and installing programs.
But they're not banning downloading and installing programs. What are they blocking, specifically?
They're banning programs from being installed unless the installation has their consent
Isn’t there somebody you forgot to ask?
They're banning non google-drmed app installs
regular installs of apps by unverified or suspended developers
they can still be installed by
adbwhenever I point this out to the drama queens here, they get hissy
Yes. Just looking for a simple 1-3 word term that encapsulates this
Loading non-playstore apps?
What do you call installing an application on a computer?
I say "I
apt-getit""Ownership."
I can't believe Steve Jobs was right all along.
Steve Jobs just didn't have the right foresight. PWA's were a solution when the web was supposed to be the future of applications distribution. If he knew native apps were still the future and in app advertising and microtransactions were going to be where all was at, he would never have pushed PWA's. Steve was a salesman first and foremost
He believed if he made quality products, that the stock price increases all the soulless capitalists demanded would follow. Which of course they did. Then Tim Apple took over, and quality went out the window in favor of stock buybacks. Kind of like Boeing.
Allow vendors to completely control what apps run on your phone and banning websites and PWAs becomes trivial for them. Browsers are apps.
Google started using buzzwords of sideloading as to make a boogeyman security issue, to get people to side with them. its just installing, other than thier main store.
sideloading existed long before mobile OSs
They can only do that to phones running gapps
The issue with this is that like 95% of android devices run android with gapps and re-imaging your phone is becoming increasingly more difficult as manufacturers lock down their bootloaders. Normies who aren't technical are not gonna want to mess with that shit. I'm not saying this to instill hopelessness but highlighting that it's a challenge.
For censorship circumvention, mainstream tech is gonna continue to be increasingly useless. We need to educate people about these matters and also try to encourage people to lean heavily into decentralised comms like lora/meshtastic
All phones run gapps by default, other than those in Mainland China, that is.
Not just China, also common in south America. Huawei still has a large market share there and their phones don't have gapps since Trump banned American companies from doing business with Huawei
How about web apps or even regular sites with a mobile friendly UI?
Oh no, vulnerable 🥺 they need DEI? They need to be a protected class? 🥺
Surveillance is suddenly wrong when it's the peasants surveiling wannabe samurai? 🥺
Can I just be "that guy" and point out the CEO of Google is "Sundar Puchai"?
Who do you think Trump is coming for, you fucking idiot? It's not guys like me named "David".
I hate this. I hate that they are targeting "minorities", or Hispanics, or Indian folks... But many people in charge who are part of these groups don't even care. They think they are special. You're money doesn't make you immune, you complete goddamn waste of oxygen.
We're trying to fucking help you. Stop condemning fellow human beings for the sake of profits. You are damning your children, and your family. You are selling them for gains. We hate you, and so do your children.
Rich Brahman caste Indians, or similar believe they are the ones most similar to rich white people. At least if you looked into Indian caste system, they are notoriously conservative and probably racist too. Usha, is also part of it
Evil thrives in darkness
They need to be protected alright, with thick concrete walls, iron bars, locks, and guards. Nobody in or out for a few decades oughta keep them nice and safe
The irony is so rich.
To anyone that had doubts about governments putting restrictions on app stores, here is your proof. The level of power the current situation grants this duopoly is excessive and dangerous.
I thought we had all the proof we needed when Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai were snuggling up to Trump at dinners and the inauguration
google had been snuggling up to conservatives for a while, mostly around mid-pandemic, when they removed restrictions on not banning election denial, and then snowballed into right wing propaganda videos plaguing youtube ever since. they are part of the problem, even moreso than APPLE. and google recently made deals WITH ISRAEL to allow thier propaganda to fester the site.
Calling masked, armed, armored thugs and terrorists with a disregard for the law a "vulnerable group" is a bit thick, isn't it?
I mean... You only need the APK 👀
for now
I already switched from Chrome to FF, I guess my phone needs a better OS next.
I miss the days of just needing a url
and an RPK
you can
it's also why apps that can be websites should
The agents who implement state violence are not a group. They're agents of the state.
And now Google is directly collaborating with an oppressive autocratic regime.
Collaborating is absolutely on par for corporations and anything else would be an anomaly.
Curiously, while in character, it's about the stupidest thing companies can do, at least according to Mike Brock
But yes, corporations are notoriously short-sighted when it comes to autocrats, even with a long history of ultimately getting their assets seized by the autocratic regimes they assisted into power.
I'd like to think this all might be a time to teach common end-users the joys of FOSS and, if necessary, jailbreaking, but that's still a big ask for the general public even in the face of abduction and rendition.
Was ever any doubt who corporate America would side with?
Capitalists will align with the devil if it means greater profits. Turns out an economic system catering to the selfishness and greed of the individual is not compatible with democracy.
Someone recommended Kagi in another thread yesterday and that night I finally became 100% google free. Search was the last big hurdle. I was literally the biggest google fanboy. I had google home devices, google wifi, I wanted all their devices, had all their services, everything was set up and integrated. De-googling was fucking hard but I did it and I'm super proud and I've learned so much about how tech works setting up my replacement services and devices. Fuck you Google.
How was search and not the usual maps the hardest? The search is what I feel like most people switch first.
Idk I started using organicmaps (comaps now) long long ago. I guess I don't have a great fundamental understanding of search. Are not most other search engines just hopping on the back of google search engines? I honestly don't know. Its not an area I've spent a lot of time learning about - or maybe I'm just a backwards dude haha.
No, that's fair play! I think you were just ahead of the curve with ditching google maps :D I use a combo of OSMAnd, Comaps, and Magic Earth (not open source, but has live traffic data).
Nisce I haven't heard of OSMAnd or Magic Earth I'll have to poke around!
😳
Lmao wife, WiFi, waifu? Where does one begin and one end I don't even know.
Google says a group of masked fascists kidnapping children from their beds is a "vulnerable group".
To be fair, they did set expectations when they got rid of the "don't be evil" moto.
google recently fellated trump and the gop. Google's youtube is pretty instrumental in drawing in more incel men to voting Rs, by platforming right wingers out of context , like kirk,shapiro, fox, ,,,ETC.
Brown shirts were a vulnerable group too!
I wonder why this happened.
https://nypost.com/2025/09/05/business/googles-sundar-pichai-thanks-trump-after-antitrust-resolution-in-online-search-case-glad-its-over/
Do rich cowards that give other rich assholes fealty often do what their rulers tell them?! 1111?
What a fucking piece of shit.
For the rest of my life I will never forget that Apple and Google went out of their way to defend and protect the Nazi SS of our time.
Absolutely fucking evil and unforgivable.
We are far, far beyond the point of a boycott having any chance whatsoever of taking down the richest corpos in the history of the world.
Power is too entrenched at this point. I think the only real thing people can do at this point is flip the fucking table and stop putting more meat into the meatgrinder.
This is why you hear so much whining and crying about falling fertility rates, so much propaganda and push to increase population. It's the one actual challenge to their power. You can't control people who don't exist.
Because none of you willing to suffer for your conviction. You'll moan online, but when asked to go without carplay or android auto, all of sudden fascism isnt that bad. You can make all the excuses you want, but the reality is that you are all spoiled. And wont even go back to dumb phones for a few months to a year to make your point.
motherfucker you don't know a damn thing about me
I might not know you, but I do know that about you, cunty chops.
I keep an SSD full of FLAC files in my car and use it through the native media player and I use my car's built-in nav.
Absolutely agreed. This is the last straw for me, I'm degoogling
Agreed. I'm pulling out of Chrome and google search. Their software is shipped with everything now and I wish I could do more. They've been sliding into evil for a long time now.
If you ever want to know why capitalism turns into fascism, look into how many companies willingly and knowingly did business with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
IBM made computers to help the Holocaust, because the Nazis could pay for the service of the machines to be built.
Google is just a modern IBM.
Fascism is a business choice, always has been. Hitler didn't get popular by himself
The Model M in my attic: heavy breathing
Hey I'm also guilty, I have had a few thinkpads. All second hand, but I did love my T420.
I just bought a (Lenovo) Thinkpad T580. Good laptop. I do plan on buying buy an IBM-era Thinkpad in the future. Hopefully, it doesn't come with a copy of Mein Kampf or Völkischer Beobachter.
With this "new" America, who knows?
Why do that when we can just watch it in real time right now?
This is exactly why sideloading is very very important.
And why it's being removed
yep
For reference: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
Ah yes... the guys with masks, guns, the backing of the president, and virtually unlimited federal government resources are a "vulnerable group"
Heil Agent Orange 🍊🧡
That's for real men, not Agent Bone Spurs
Fascists.
Don’tbe evil."Why dont you stupid Americans organize or something?"
They won't let us. We're trying.
Do not let Google escape this, ever. Cancel all payments to them. YouTube Premium, YouTube subscriptions, etc.
So this could get much more serious if they start clamping down on the comm tools we take for granted. Between this and the incoming sideloading block - all of a sudden the most paranoid fears of Stallman's don't seem nearly as far fetched.
They're totally vulnerable! Just aim for the head!
That worked!! 👍
Isn't ICE one of the biggest budget of the US now? How is that vulnerable?
We're at that point where we have started to realize that laws are just words on paper unless someone enforces them.
We also skipped the paper step long ago as far as big money is concerned.
we know it's not legal, but who's going to do anything about it?
They cheer and provide support. ACAB = All Cops Are Bastards
1312 is another good way of subvert messaging because it can be mistook as the international and area codes for Chicago, IL
never liked 1312. I don't mind it, but don't prefer it. reminds me of fascist dog whistles like 1488. there's no need to speak in code. we're right. all cops are bastards.
You must've been raised in a cop-free household then, and I'm grateful you could have that experience. Being beaten by a cop is nothing short of terrifying, especially in your own home.
Going into an apartment complex, arresting everyone there including children, including US citizens, without a warrant? That's illegal. But there's nothing you can do about it except sue them afterwards.
“Vulnerable” go fuck yourself with a white-hot steel dildo.
Imagine having to warp reality THIS much, just to make it fit your twisted narrative?
The 1 million dollar question: Would I be able to side load it with the new Google developer registration rules?
lol
Nope. Our tax dollars pay for their existence. They're not a vulnerable group, they're our employees.
The current trend is workplace surveillance, if they're our employees aren't we supposed to be be tracking their every move and timing their bathroom breaks to the picosecond?
"Hey. Don’t I pay your salary? ... You’re a public servant; get me a glass of water."
RIP George.
Vulnerable my aunts fanny. They aggressively terrorize everywhere they go. Go everywhere armed to the teeth and are not in any way shape or form threatened with anything or anyone that could harm them sufficiently to put them into a threatened category. This is just google telling us whose side they are on
Any web based alternatives? App stores aren’t needed here and it’s a lot harder to stop a website.
So does this mean Google will also block services that are being used to harm other vulnerable groups, like all the ones being targeted by Snowfla- I mean ICE?
Goddamn Gestapo
"Don't be evil unless fascism is better option"
Any man with a mask is a threat to me and my immigrant wife. I do not give a fuck if the patch says "POLICE". Here, get one on Amazon, anyone can.
I am armed everywhere I travel past my front yard. I am armed on my shitter. Insane, I know, but that's where America is at. I am on a fucking hair trigger. Course ICE isn't around here, we rednecks are well armed. Funny how that works out.
Another reason is that your fellow rednecks, by and large, are all for this shit.
Poor little guys
The moment any real alternative to Apple and the iPhone is viable I will go all in. Fuck them both, please Linux phones come to save us, lol.
If Linux phones become viable, I'm willing to pay half the salary of the engineer who develops the Linux equivalent of Android Auto and Apple Carplay. As long as they live and work in a really cheap country lol
So as long as its convenient, you'll stand up to fascism? lol.
There needs to be an alternative that WORKS first and foremost. Most Oneplus 6s are getting worn down, what am I going to run Linux on? Because Linux on most phones doesn't give you a functional phone at all.
How do you expect me to switch to an OS that on some devices might not let me make phone calls?
There is, its called a nokia. You can pick up any old 00s phone and youre good to go. Reachable and able to make phone calls. Or, and this will be fun, you can go with out. Society managed just fine for a very long time without being always reachable. Time to put the glass and metal brick down. Well, if standing up to fascism is important to you that is... But we both know the answer, dont we?
Exactly. There will never be a convenient alternative for people like this, so they'll just continue using Google and Apple while angrily scrolling through their news feeds.
Use ![email protected] to boycott fascist enablers.
Google can F-themselves.
Bet everyone keeps on using their google phones though...
Moaning online aint gonna do shit. Not buying their new phones, not using their old phones, will send the message you want to send. Get an old nokia, or a dumb phone, or two cans and piece of string, or no phone. If you think this is action by google is them cosying up to fascists, then you have a duty to harm that company by not giving them money.
They rely on convenience to trap you. Turn your phones off, dont buy the new ones, get dumb replacements if you need to. Fuck apple and fuck google for cosying up to this admins Gestapo bullshit.
Their phones don't make them that much money. Don't use the search service.
It’s just hard to drop the maps especially when car software will only pair with google maps. That’s about the only thing that does not have an easy alternative.
I'm using organic maps, and a simple phone holder does the trick in the car. No need for the on-screen navigation.
Cops will give a ticket for distracted driving if a phone is used even in navigation. The screen is a safety feature.
What? As long as I program the route before starting and don't touch my phone until I arrive, nothing happens.
Nothing to do with touching it. If it’s presently in use in any way they will ticket for distracted driving. Some people are even pstd if someone beside the driver is using their phone. The screen provided way to circumvent this issue.
In which country is that? I've used my phone for navigation for the last 10 years or so without issues.
Buy a map book. Plan your journey in advance. Cars were a thing for decades before map software was a thing, and everyone muddled through. You can too.
That's unrealistic and a much slower option than other map software.
I grew up using maps to navigate. I learned land navigation before you were working a full time job. I don't use Google's search engine. I don't buy their new phones. How do I know you're not the fascist bootlicker, being a rage-baiter online to sow discontent?
Well, you could try not being a fucking moron? I mean, Im telling you all to drop google and apple. How in the blue fuck would that advance my position, if I was a fascist bootlicker?
Look, its real fucking easy. You do something, or you dont. But if youre not going to, then be fucking honest about it. Dont make shit up about how its too hard to read a map, or that you wont be able to make calls or whatever other stupid as fuck excuses have been made. You are all moaning about the gestapo running around, and how these mobile providers are supporting their actions. The action required is clear, turn off your phones. Dont buy new ones. But here we are, fuck know how many replies in, and its nothing but "Oh, I would. But then, how could I find my way around?" Or "oh, I would. But linuxphone isnt ready yet....". Like old nokias or dumb phones arent a valid option. But what do they not have? Social media bullshit. Which makes the argument they are making pretty fucking clear. They only care about being seen to be standing up to fascism. If they cant get the up arrows, they dont want to do it.
Its the same with Amazon treating its workers like shit. Everybody moaned, but no one stopped ordering because that would inconvenience them too much. A generation of moaners, thats all these people are. With no fucking backbone to actually stand up for what they, say, they believe in.
It was also much more dangerous. I know, I was there.
Somethings today advanced for safety reasons for very good reason. If it comes negotiating conspiracy over safety I think it’s at that moment that it’s fair to say it is unreasonable.
Well Someone is so delicate and offended in this thread they started ad hominem attacks and name calling. It sure isn’t me, little snowflake. Maybe you should calm down.
One of the founders of Fairphone is working on a European alternative phone OS called Mobifree, which is also open source. Google free Android also already exists.
We need to start eating these scum bags
I’m honestly fine if we just compost them.
landfill, they arnt worthy to be reused as compost, they will just contiminate the soil.
Let them bloat and play pop the richie
You do you I guess
Why does it have to be an app? Why can't it be just a webpage?
Apps have more permissions than webpages in general
Like PWAs exist but apps are supported better in general. And although a web app may work fine for reporting in general, if you want to alert people (I'm not sure if these apps are meant to act like a parallel reverse 911 system) apps do better
Thanks for explaining. With Google putting the squeeze on opensource and sideloaded applications, PWA maybe the way to go for reporting, with an opt-in for text notifications for the "reverse 911."
I wonder what happened behind the scenes
Apple also removed their app. Something must have happened.
No shit! Can you imagine the conversations? Were they subtle, blatant threats, what?!
Taking turn giving trump a fellatio
Like sucking on one of those mini candy canes.
stormy daniels knows.
Good puppy dogs doing Dear Leader's bidding. History will remember!
uwu they are working under very hash conditions to terrorise children and other civilians
"You just uninstalled Chrome We’re sorry to see you go. Please help us improve Google Chrome by filling out this short survey. Your feedback is appreciated." And....no link to any survey provided, so I can't tell them why they can go fuck themselves. I still use Youtube non premium, with an ad blocker, but I'm open to any suggestions for a replacement site.....
PeerTube, but it cant be called an alternative (yet)
https://odysee.com/
Only just discovered it last night, so, not sure what it really has to offer
It was said to have a nazi problem a while ago. Has that changed? I don't see anything too problematic on the front page right now.
Didn't know about this. I'm gonna have to do a little research I think
The front page I'm getting is certainly kind of smelly
Yeah I noticed some pepes later
Next up: Won't anyone think of the abusers? Who's the true victim of domestic violence?
In case anyone is wondering why an international tech giant caves so easily to the US government when the companies that own late night hosts still have them running: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/05/tech/google-eu-antitrust-fine-adtech
Grand Play.
Yes because, as everyone knows, the real enemies are brown people with funny accents. /s
Ew