Yes, but for little startups / projects like the kind you mentioned, you could likely go through a middleman with good connections who could get you a working ICP, which would probably technically be that of a shell company you did not own but which was 'lending' you the ICP. Once you got bigger, you would have the money to go through more official channels.

Going the super-official route would be a bit painful unless you already owned a company because the minimal financing for a corporation is high here (compared to the US).

More generally, the rule is - don't yammer about sensitive political issues and try to follow the law and you'll probably be OK.