Apple's war on porn?
Apple is waging war on smut. Without warning, the firm has apparently banned iPhone applications with "overtly sexual content" from its iTunes App Store. Explicit pornographic apps have been verboten for some time, but this latest move targets sex-themed apps. While some say Apple is simply cleaning up its act ahead of the launch of the family-friendly iPad, the move has caused uproar in the tech community, with many accusing the firm of censorship. Has Apple gone too far, or is its sex ban justified?
This is straight up puritanism: The apps store was already "squeaky clean," writes Nick Farrell at Fudzilla. The "risqué applications" subject to this latest ban simply feature "bikini models," not porn. What's next, "women's ankles"? We understand that Apple wants the iPad to be sold to "families and schools," but that doesn't mean "adopting right wing puritan values."
"Apple starts purge of iPhone applications"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It's a business decision: It might seem "prudish," but Apple's "porn purge" is actually a "smart business move," says Jeff Bertolucci at PC World. The iTouch is already "wildly popular" with kids, and now Apple wants the iPad to become a "study tool" for high schoolers. It has to "squash the impression" that the App store is a "haven for smut" if it wants parents to buy iPads for their kids.
"Why Apple's Porn Purge is a Smart Move"
But where will the censorship end? This sets a "scary precedent," says Jason Kincaid at Techcrunch. Apple is already "one of the world's largest gatekeepers to content," and that will only expand with the launch of the iPad. What happens if it applies this "policy shift" to cover all the "books and magazines" it will publish? Will it ban "NC-17" rated movies because of a few complaints? Or classic books with "sexual content"?
Apple risks stifling its economy: This is a "stupid" business decision, says Patricio Robles at Ecoconsultancy. If apps can be banned "without warning or explanation", developers may rethink "future investments". The app store should be a "sovereign nation" in which developers are "private business owners" - not a "Stalin-like" regime which "puts them out of business" on a "whim."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Is Donald Trump behind potential Gaza ceasefire and will it work?
Today's Big Question Israel and Hamas are 'on the brink' of a peace deal and a hostage exchange, for which the incoming president may take credit
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chemnitz: an 'unlikely renaissance' for the 'forgotten' town
The Week Recommends The birthplace of Germany's industrial revolution is hoping to reinvent itself
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Maha Kumbh Mela: world's largest religious festival gets under way in India
In The Spotlight Politics of Hindu nationalism has cast a shadow over event touted as biggest ever gathering of humanity
By The Week UK Published