Apple Removes Apps Using Confederate Flag From App Store, Issues Official Statement

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Posted June 25, 2015 at 9:46pm by iClarified

Earlier today, Apple began removing apps that feature the Confederate flag from its App Store.

The move follows a mass-shooting at an historic church in Charleston, South Carolina. After photos surfaced of the shooter posing with the Confederate flag, criticism over the emblem often associated with slavery began to mount.

TouchArcade posted the news earlier today...

It's looking like Apple has pulled everything from the App Store that features a Confederate flag, regardless of context. The reasoning Apple is sending developers is "...because it includes images of the confederate flag used in offensive and mean-spirited ways."

Apple has now issued an official statement in regards to the removal of the games telling the site that, "We have removed apps from the App Store that use the Confederate flag in offensive or mean-spirited ways, which is in violation of our guidelines." However, it appears as though the company's definition of "offensive and mean-spirited" is quite broad and includes battle games that focus on historical accuracy.

Apple is apparently demanding that developers remove or replace the Confederate app in their apps. If this is indeed true, it raises a whole new set of issues involving censorship and the erasing of history.

TouchArcade writes, "Objectionable as it is, the existence of the Confederate flag in these Civil War games is historically accurate, and I'm not sure that any company should have the ability to mold history to its standards and beliefs."

Let us know what you think in the comments. Should Apple be able to force developers to remove depictions of the Confederate flag? If yes, shouldn't they also remove all other games and apps that depict imagery which convey negative connotations?

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Apple Removes Apps Using Confederate Flag From App Store, Issues Official Statement

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LeRAW - June 26, 2015 at 12:06pm

I am not from US I am from EU and here, in Europe the use of the Confederation Flag is quite normal in some minority groups. I know and meet people with clearly racist ideology that they use the Confederation Flag in their paraphernalia, clothes, bikes, cars (WWII Willys) tattoos. One thing is to remove the historical contest and another to ban the use of some groups are making from some symbols. I suppose Apple is or will be smart enough to distinguish.

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Sam Smith - June 26, 2015 at 5:36am

I heard that the selfie he took was using an iPhone. What are you going to do about that Apple?

gamerscul9870 - June 26, 2015 at 5:47am

Apple only forbids selfie sticks in their event center because of how others try to capture moments on their devices. Compared to everywhere else you would use it, not having it around whoever you go would be like Apple trying to uninstall apps on your device.

vanimox - June 26, 2015 at 5:35am

The definition of censorship: "the practice of officially examining books, movies, applications, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts" Censorship begins small, taking away the right to view small amounts of information, and then grows over time until it’s just a regular event. I completely agree with you when you say it " is Apple's store, and they can sell, or not sell, whatever they choose". But the problem arises when you are in a locked down environment to the point where you have no ability to get out and no ability to shop anywhere else. You are restricted to what Apple 'Allows' you to view in their app store, and what they will not allow you to view. Perhaps you do not remember in 2009 when Apple attempted to make Jailbreaking illegal. Censorship in its fullest form, is where a Government supports the suppression of information, regardless the format the information is in. Here is where it begins to get interesting: Since 2007 when the first iPhone was released, there has been a silent war between Apple who is determined to ensure that the iPhone is locked down (preventing even the iPhone owner from making any unauthorized modifications to the internal software of the operating System) and the hackers who painstakingly work to 'root' the iPhone giving the iPhone owner full control of the device. In 2008 when the 'App Store' was first released, Apple continuously monitor's every single application for any objectionable content that Apple does not see fit to appear in its iPhone App Store. An app should not be "banned" solely because Apple does not agree with what is being displayed in the Application, assuming that the application does not have any general build quality issues nor any copyright(s). Apple is locking down the iOS so far that one day, we may no longer see any jailbreaks for the iPhone. Of course there will always be exploits in the iPhone Operating System, but there will be so few known exploits in the iOS, that it could easily come to years between each public jailbreak release, and potentially even longer. Take the famous iPhone jailbreaker 'i0n1c (Stefan Esser) for example, although he creates jailbreaks, he no longer publicly releases them for the sole purpose that if he does, Apple will patch them. IPhone jailbreaks are becoming increasingly rarer, and with the new release of iOS 9, the jailbreak process will become incredibly more difficult for the hackers to break. When iOS jailbreaks become so rare that there are no public releases, what is actually happening behind the scenes is the entire OS is hidden from you and all develops alike. At this point in the future where iPhone jailbreaks have become, for all intents and purposes, obsolete, Apple could install a kind of software behind the scenes on your iPhone device and no one would have any idea. It could even be a secret Government mandate that Apple is required to install monitoring systems, recording software, and copy every photograph on your iPhone without your knowledge. This kind of monitoring system could be easily installed onto your device though a simple OTA update and no one would have any idea because no one has access to the file system because it is so far locked down. A device that you store your entire life on, a device that you use every single day and carry around with you everywhere, a device that you have personal conversations on and trust with your life, I believe the owner of the device should have full control of that device. I am all for security, and I think that locking down the file system so far that no hacker would be able to gain access would be very beneficial for a person’s privacy, but the owner of the device should always have the right to maintain full read/wright access to every bit of information stored on that device.

gamerscul9870 - June 26, 2015 at 5:45am

That's one powerful speech.

Yucon - June 26, 2015 at 8:25am

Well said, vanimox.

dkdk - June 26, 2015 at 10:38am

You express your point very well, but I just don't think it applies here. Burger King is not a censor for not selling pizza... how dare they tell their customers what to eat?!? Get my point? As to the jailbreak blocking, that's also not as straightforward as you make it: jailbreaks exploit security flaws, so regardless of how Apple feels about customisation of their product by the end users, of course they have to fix flaws that could expose their products to hacking... Apple fans always make fun of Android for being vulnerable to hacks and malware, then gripe that Apple blocks the exploits. That just doesn't make any sense. And finally, thank you for actually taking the time to look up the definition of censorship... but I think context matters, and here it doesn't apply.

LeRAW - June 26, 2015 at 12:17pm

Vanimox, I think your jailbreaking story is out of context. Anyway nothing to do with flags... and if you don't like how a iPhone is working nobody is forcing you to buy it, perhaps you can buy another brand more open friendly.

gamerscul9870 - June 26, 2015 at 4:43am

name them all. I dare you.

gamerscul9870 - June 26, 2015 at 3:44am

What's this grow up shit? Plus, maybe this policy has always been this way since the beginning of App Store, so maybe this is following the steps of that.

Eye Gheya Fyde - June 26, 2015 at 2:34am

Redonkulous.

MesaBoogie2 - June 26, 2015 at 1:20am

Apple and this country have gone to far

justabrake - June 26, 2015 at 12:40am

Apple has gone too far

dkdk - June 26, 2015 at 12:35am

What is everyone getting freaked out about? This is NOT censorship. People have to open a dictionary other than Urban Dictionary once in a while, and learn the meaning of words before throwing them around. It lessens the significance of words like censorship, racism, et cetera when they're applied too widely. App Developers have a right to be upset by this, and the public can scoff at Apple's policy, but censorship? Nope. This is Apple's store, and they can sell, or not sell, whatever they choose.

PaladinLV - June 26, 2015 at 4:21am

The I want to see ALL graphics of a Swastika removed from all WWII graphics as I find THAT symbol HIGHLY Offensive. I also want to see the Japanese Flag of the Rising Sun and "red spot" removed as they murdered 100s of American Servicemen and beheaded a flight crew during WWII and their flag and symbol are also OFFENSIVE. You really want to go down this road? Even with Corporations their is EQUAL PROTECTION under the law!

dkdk - June 26, 2015 at 10:28am

You're missing the point: nobody is "making" Apple do this, so it's not censorship. I presume that you actually don't have swastikas all over your house... are you a censor for not having any? Of course not. I'm absolutely NOT taking the subject of censorship lightly, I'm just saying this is not an example of it.

Butterspider - June 26, 2015 at 12:03am

Too far Apple. Too far!!!!

Normally support Apple - June 25, 2015 at 11:47pm

This is going too far. Apple needs another letter from an outspoken celebrity. This would finally turn me off of Apple. I enjoy Apple keeping junk out of their App Store, but censorship and denial of free speech is too far.

gamerscul9870 - June 25, 2015 at 11:37pm

Apple is following the policy this being smart. A little removal isn't a big deal, but removing that kind of history involving a different continent? Yeah right.

Just another Thought - June 25, 2015 at 11:46pm

Yes, they are being stupid. But this is just a very good example what happens with a closed ecosystem like Apple is having with iOS. Apple is telling the users what Apple deems best for the users. I'd very much rather prefer where I as a user can decide for myself and not Apple, or any other company. You really think this is the last of this kind. Think different, eh! (In 30 years Apple became what they were build to be against from the start)

gamerscul9870 - June 25, 2015 at 11:50pm

All I am saying is that Apple is that smart where they just removed very little. We're still deciding to choose any apps we want for ourselves. They're not shoving what they find good in our faces.

Jackson Browne - June 25, 2015 at 10:16pm

As an avowed pacifist, I believe that Apple should remove any content that involves war or battles of any kind.

vanimox - June 25, 2015 at 11:01pm

Jackson Browne, you sound like another Kim Jong-un in the makings. Don't you understand that any kind of censorship in any way can have catastrophic consequences?

Yucon - June 25, 2015 at 10:09pm

Any kind of censorship from apple, not relevant exclusively to the general build quality or copyright of the app in question, shouldn't exist. I mean, why should they be the judge of what you must play or learn about?

gamerscul9870 - June 25, 2015 at 10:12pm

It's just a little removal of these apps like .0001% of the whole library to choose from. It would be a complete judge if they forced you to download apps.

Yucon - June 25, 2015 at 10:24pm

Well, yes, but every "big" censorship starts with "Hey, let's just tweak this and that, you know, for the consumer experience.", but the thing is they should be no judge at all about what you want to have on your phone. Eliminating historical war games just because they have the Confederate Flag at some point seems a bit stupid to me. It's a hard part of history for some, yes. But it happened, no point trying to eliminate it.

vanimox - June 25, 2015 at 10:55pm

Well said Yucon.

dkdk - June 26, 2015 at 12:31am

They're not telling you that you can't have the confederate flag on your phone, they're just saying that they don't want it in their store. That's not censorship. Just like it's not censorship that they don't allow apps with nude content. It's a bummer, but not censorship. ;-)

gamerscul9870 - June 26, 2015 at 1:53am

well said, but...

Yucon - June 26, 2015 at 8:20am

If "their store" is the only place to download iPhone apps from, it IS censorship.

vanimox - June 25, 2015 at 9:56pm

Apple is becoming a censorship, telling you what you CAN and CANNOT have on your iPhone, what apps you are allowed to purchase and which ones are banned. It's becoming more and more apparent to me. I have had every single iPhone and have upgraded yearly since the very first iPhone, but I am honestly thinking this may be the very last iPhone I ever own.

gamerscul9870 - June 25, 2015 at 10:06pm

That was just a few of these games out of many to find. - in 1,000,000 choices of game apps, besides what if these apps came back with different flags or removed them? It's not like Apple would completely force these games off here forever even after the apps try to come back, yet about what you said is like saying jailbreaking is banned. With a topic like that makes sense compared to this, but still.

John - June 25, 2015 at 9:55pm

If it is historically accurate, it should not be removed.

Dommm - June 25, 2015 at 9:58pm

How real can it get

gamerscul9870 - June 25, 2015 at 10:03pm

If it were Jobs who made this policy, I wouldn't say it's that stupid, but it makes sense the way the policy was mentioned.