In the middle of a fire, the online world of the Citizen App spills into Los Angeles, which has been ignited in more ways than one as the calls on the app turn into a vigilante mob looking for someone who may not even be a suspect.
Directed by Paula Neudorf, who worked on the series Cyberwar, this VICE News show has someone who worked at the company saying, “If your app protects the world, you know, and you hurt one person, maybe it’s not the biggest deal.”
Using leaked Slack chats, company information and interviews with sources, this is all about how Citizen’s CEO Andrew Frame put a $30,000 bounty on information that would lead to the capture of an arsonist who started a fire in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. While police were looking for the same individual, they were innocent. Another person was arrested. A Citizen spokesperson called the incident “a mistake we are taking very seriously.”
Founded in 2016, Citizen is the first app to combine location information with 911 intelligence to keep you and your loved ones safe. The app was originally Vigilante and released in New York City. The ads for the app encouraged user vigilantism, as well as racial profiling and harassment. It was pulled from the Apple App Store within 2 days.
Citizen also released the subscription security feature Protect, the first paid feature. USA Today says that this feature “lets users contact virtual agents for help if they feel they’re in danger.” As of January 26, 2022, Protect had over 100,000 subscribers.
The idea of America becoming even more of a police state where people gain money because of turning each other in is yet another nightmare in this rapidly declining state that we live in. If this doesn’t scare you, you aren’t paying attention.
You can watch this on Tubi.
