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 · 8462 views · Translate

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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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?

Lolwut - 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.

Lolwut - June 26, 2015 at 5:45am

That's one powerful speech.

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