Mastodawn

White House app auto-downloads to government phones, can't be uninstalled

“It’s shooting pure unadulterated propaganda into our veins,” says one worker.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/white-house-app-auto-downloads-to-government-phones-cant-be-uninstalled/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

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Becca 1d ago

@arstechnica WTAF

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Ryan M 1d ago

@arstechnica probably a good idea for people to have the OS require a password or FaceID to use the app. Then turn off its access to any system feature (like background processing and GPS). Then, if possible, hide it away.

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🔥Cassandra🔥1d ago

@arstechnica Oh wow, Big Brother is in your pocket at all times, that's fun.

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UltrasonicMadness (he/him)1d ago

@arstechnica I fail to see what the big deal is here - company IT equipment normally has company software on it that is not to be removed. Has the US government only started doing this?

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Marc Etienne 21h ago

@UltrasonicMadness @arstechnica the big deal is that this seems to be a sloppily written Trojan, an app that appears to have privacy leaks and security holes all over the place and risks sensitive data. And now it's mandatory, thanks to MDM.

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UltrasonicMadness (he/him)20h ago

@fnordius @arstechnica This is what happens when I only read the headline. I'm so used to outrageous headlines that this genuinely threw me.

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Hettyc Tracyn 1d ago

@arstechnica

I mean, they could just not use the app if they don’t want to… they work for the government, and just like any other employer, they can put software onto work phones

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noble feu 1d ago

@arstechnica

Called "Volksempfänger“?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksempf%C3%A4nger

Volksempfänger - Wikipedia

This… truth is lie…

@arstechnica
What strange app, you can install it even if you're not from / in the US (I am not). I just did for the heck of it.

There's a red button there which says "Text President Trump".

I just did. Told him that I'm not sure his quite right in the head.

Not sure where the SMS went though. It was some weird 5 digit number. But who knows, maybe he received it?

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Prometheus 6h ago

Mandatory government propaganda apps that can't be removed is exactly the architecture authoritarian states use. The only difference is usually they don't make the news.