“Apple Inc said on Wednesday that an app belonging to popular conspiracy theorist Alex Jones remains in the company’s mobile App Store because it has not been found to be in violation of any content policies,” Paresh Dave and Stephen Nellis report for Reuters. “The Infowars Official app has become the App Store’s third most-downloaded news app this week after Apple removed access on Sunday to some of Jones’ podcasts from its digital store. Apple had said the podcasts violated the company’s rules against hate speech.”
“The company had not explained why the app remained available until issuing a statement on Wednesday,” Dave and Nellis report. “‘We strongly support all points of view being represented on the App Store, as long as the apps are respectful to users with differing opinions, and follow our clear guidelines, ensuring the App Store is a safe marketplace for all,’ Apple told Reuters in a statement.”
“Jones’ podcasts differed from the Infowars app in a key way. The podcast app allowed access to an extensive list of previous episodes, subjecting all of those past episodes to Apple’s content rules,” Dave and Nellis report. “The Infowars app contains only rebroadcasts of the current day’s episodes, subjecting a much smaller set of content to the rules. Apple said it regularly monitors all apps for content violations. ‘We continue to monitor apps for violations of our guidelines and if we find content that violates our guidelines and is harmful to users we will remove those apps from the store as we have done previously,’” Apple said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The 3rd-most downloaded app this week? Sheesh.
Of course, the inherent danger of censorship is that you make the censored more alluring by elevating their musings into ideas too “dangerous” to hear. – MacDailyNews, August 6, 2018
SEE ALSO:
Alex Jones: Infowars has racked up 5.6 million new subscribers in the past 48 hours – August 8, 2018
Tim Cook sends Mark Zuckerberg, YouTube, and Spotify scrambling over Infowars’ Alex Jones – August 8, 2018
Jack Dorsey explains why Twitter isn’t banning Alex Jones and Infowars – August 8, 2018
Infowars’ Alex Jones blasts Apple, Google, others; warns on internet censorship – August 7, 2018
Apple’s ‘Infowars’ move thrusts tech giant into the debate over censoring content on internet platforms – August 6, 2018
Apple removes most of Alex Jones’ Infowars podcasts from iTunes Store – August 6, 2018
Apple signs on to full page ‘open letter’ ad urging President Trump to keep U.S. in Paris Agreement on climate change – June 1, 2017
Just get rid of the app already. InfoWars is trash. He’s using it to personally attack the SandyHook families. For God’s sake, put this nutcase out of business.
It’s not about whether or not his content is regarded as ‘trash’. Some of Jones’ customers are interested in what he says.
This is about Freedom of Assembly. No third party should determine who a US citizen may or may not associate with.
It’s also about Freedom of Speech. No third party should be determining what type of speech a US citizen may or may not listen to.
This includes ‘curated’ news. Curation is simply another term for a third party determining what info you can or cannot have access to. Think for yourself. Unless you feel that you need to be protected from world-views that require critical thinking…
Censorship is tyranny. Be careful what you wish for.
It would also be tyranny for the government to mandate what content private parties like Apple must promote on their platforms.
We have a noncurated news source available to all of us. I believe it is called the Internet. Any less comprehensive source will necessarily be curated, just as all newspapers are edited.
Nobody made you buy an iPhone, so if you do not like what Apple does with it’s HW/SW you should feel free to go buy a Samsung.
Nobody is censoring him. You can pull up his nonsense with any web browser.
I am a civil libertarian first and foremost and none of the actions taken against him amount to censorship. Mr Jones is lining his pockets spreading the worst kind of crap that he has admitted in court documents is entertainment- not news.
Your speech rights are not absolute. If you are disruptive in a private establishment they are perfectly within their rights if they have you removed. If you do the same at your place of employment you can be terminated.
Clowns like Jones play on the margin and abuse his speech rights for profit while confusing some of the public who cannot or will not discern that what he spouts is complete and utter nonsense.
“Nobody made you buy an iPhone, so if you do not like what Apple does with it’s HW/SW you should feel free to go buy a Samsung.”
I knew it wouldn’t take long for a liberal to trot out this old mantra. All my life I’ve heard quips such as, “If you don’t like what’s on TV, then don’t complain — just change the channel.” In 1999, a British “artist” exhibited a piece that mixed a depiction of the Virgin Mary with elephant excrement. Christians (and some members of other religions) were outraged at this intentionally insensitive and demeaning “art”. And what we were told by every talking head as well as the New York Times? “If you don’t like it, then don’t go to the exhibition. But the integrity of this artistic expression must be protected without reservation.” By the way, even the very liberal former CBS News correspondent Bernard Goldberg castigated the so-called “artist” for his work.
So, DavGreg, I say to you: If you don’t care for what Alex Jones has to say, then don’t listen to his podcasts. And stop your whining.
You and your ilk only want to censor what you disagree with, and you fail to see both the hypocrisy and danger of this line of thought.
I read MDN daily, and have never seen you make a post condemning and/or asking for the censorship of the many celebrities and news hosts who have stated that they hope someone kills Trump. So don’t tell me you’re worried about the Jones podcasts inciting violence. You’re merely worried about pushing your political beliefs down other people’s throats, and using censorship to silence everyone else who has a viewpoint different than your own.
And, for the record, I have never listened to even one of Alex Jones’ podcasts. I have no intention to, either.
I do not ask for censorship as sunshine is the best disinfectant. But this issue is different, Apple is a private company- and as such reserves the right to choose what content it offers in the form of podcasts.
As I posted earlier, you are still free to listen to or watch his stuff with any web browser on a Mac or iOS device.
I don’t agree, DG. This is hypocrisy censorship. When you allow worse hate speech from the left and monetize it then politics is driving this double standard. Apple still distributes the app, what is the difference between that and distributing a podcast?
Sure, Apple as a private company has the legal right to censor anyone. Doesn’t make it right to allow your politics to discriminate.
Apple just surrendered the crown and Twitter is the new free speech king …
What worse hate speech from the left?
There is no left wing equivalent to Alex Jones or Savage.
“What worse hate speech from the left?”
You don’t see it?!? Maxine, Sharpton, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, etc., seriously?
“There is no left wing equivalent to Alex Jones or Savage.”
Wow, for such a smart guy eyes wide shut. Jones is crap and I do not support him. DR. Mike Savage on the other hand is BRILLIANT. Several NYTs best selling books and several doctorate degrees.
The most articulate no nonsense conservative out there today. He does not mince words, non-PC , tells it like it is. Seriously, what’s not to like?
Savage is the ultimate truth detector …
So you support compelled association, right? You support the government compelling Apple to associate with Alex Jones.
Got it.
please get rid of it. Censorship is ok this time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/opinion/if-we-silence-hate-speech-will-we-silence-resistance.html
I encourage everyone to read this story. While not perfect, it is one of the fairest balances articles from a left biased newspaper I have read in a long time …
HE NEVER attacked Sandy Hook families. YOU are only postig the his competitions FAKE and slanderous talking points they have used to stop the TRUTH. . JONES was being SIED by teh Families because of FAKE REPORTS and slander that you make up and post. So he fought back and WON and he EVEN REMOVED a PROVISION ( Legally granted to him) to not use Slap Back provisions For them bringing the fake lawsuits. YOu need to do your due diligence instead of spreading MORE fake slanderous headlines. It only makes you and the dumb ones that follow you dumber
Kirkpowers,
Almost every single assertion in your posting is untrue. Two minutes researching any source other than InfoWars would have revealed that.
For example:
https://www.mystatesman.com/news/local-govt–politics/politifact-clinton-claim-about-alex-jones-rings-true/Zc0HbTvsEqqmdokzl6FUhO/
As for the notion that Jones has EVER won a suit against the Sandy Hook parents, the caption of a video posted last week by Jones says, “Mark Randazza joins Alex Jones to explain how Alex won his anti-SLAP suit against the Sandy Hook lawsuit levied against him, but he graciously waved the fees he was entitled to be rewarded with.” I just wasted 13:17 of my life watching the entire video and it quite simply does not contain anything remotely like that. Jones lied. Again.
I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you have been duped, rather than that you are trying to dupe others.
Better still, just get rid of the CNN app, it is utter garbage, and only fake news.
Checking around on this I issue I came across the Terms of Service(TOS) for infowars.
https://www.infowars.com/terms-of-service/
This isn’t a censorship issue if Inforwars violates the terms of service of another organization, in this case Apple.
Unfortunately, the most effective way to report an app requires you to download it first.
Hint hint.
Are they monitoring the speech in the music store?
“Kill cops, rape women”
Sounds like hate speech to me.
Oh that’s right, Alex Jones needs to sing his podcasts, then it’s all ok.
Off course not, that’s creative. That’s art. That’s another culture. Just fill in the blanks of the hypocrisy of it all.
If you’re looking for it to make sense, it won’t.
3rd most downloaded? You would think people are smarter these days. WRONG. The movie IDIOCRACY is becoming REALITY. How Sad is this folks.
Of all the censoring tech companies, Apple has the most to lose. They have crossed a line by banning Jones’ podcasts. Apple has access to user files. That means YOUR files on YOUR computer. Every heard of iCloud? Photos in the cloud? All the other apps that use iCloud or Apple services to sync? Since Apple is OK denying access to content with which they disagree, what if they decide that your private journal entries, stored on iCloud, on say, climate change, are “not respectful”? Will they deny you access to your file or files? What if someone at Apple finds the photos you took of a cross at a church function to be “hateful”? Will your photos be safe, or will you find them mysteriously “missing” one day? What if they decide that the appointment you have on your calendar to attend a Jordan Peterson event is hateful. Will they delete the event, or even not allow you to schedule it? See the problem here? Apple has made a very bad business move. Think this is over the top? Think again.
No, over the top is people insisting that a private party has a duty to publish material that it finds repugnant. Don’t like iCloud? Don’t use it.
“No, over the top is people insisting that a private party has a duty to publish material that it finds repugnant.”
No, they have a USA constitutional duty to uphold the First Amendment and not CENSOR political views that are offensive to the liberal SJW customers.
Twitter holds the crown NOW for doing the right thing. SHAME on Apple.
That said, yes as a private company they are TOTALLY legal to censor and discriminate against anyone they choose. What a great legacy, Tim.
Remember readers, Apple under pipeline has now crossed the non-partisan policy put in place by Jobs to the dark side of partisan politics.
You won’t admit it USER, but the hypocrisy and double standards at Apple bite them in the core this time. It is not going away. When you do not censor repugnant left wing HATE, you are hypocrite grande.
Obviously, you are deaf, dumb and blind to it like the rest of your liberal ilk …
Goeb sounds just like hate speech.
To call others deaf dumb or blind is not only nonsense, it proves the illogical bent Goeb takes every time he loses an argument. His one track mind turns everyone into an enemy, collectively labeled with the boogeyman “liberal” sticker whether relevant or not. One has to have a twisted mind to associate censorship, which is tyranny, with liberal concepts of any kind. Liberty is the opposite of tyranny to sane people.
It takes a special kind of stupid for scoreless Goeb to attack the most astute and fact-based forum member.
“Goeb sounds just like hate speech.”
When you debate someone from the opposite side of the argument and have different views it has nothing to do hating that person or whether you label their views or not. Go ahead, call me conservative and I won’t melt like a snowflake. Are you grown up?
“One has to have a twisted mind to associate censorship, which is tyranny, with liberal concepts of any kind.”
Censorship is practiced every day by left and right and has nothing to do with “liberal concepts” that day by day are becoming the dangerous censors in the USA.
“the most astute and fact-based forum member.”
Now who would that be, me? 😆
Hmmm, let me guess, RW or Melvin posting under a different name, is that you? I can think of a few others …