Why Apple Should Stop Censoring Apps

An anonymous reader writes "ReadWriteWeb makes the case that Apple should stop censoring submissions to the App Store. The company made headlines last week for banning an app showing the locations of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The article says Apple should restrict its bans to apps that have terrible functionality or a poor UI, and 'get out of the business of censorship.' Quoting: 'Last year in Syria, antigovernment activists began using an iPhone app to disseminate news, maps, photos and videos about the conflict in a country that doesn't exactly rank highly for its press freedom. Mobile tech in the hands of Syrian dissidents proved enough of a nuisance that the government banned the iPhone in late 2011, presumably to quash content that the regime found, um, objectionable. This example raises a few questions. First, why are pins on a map more objectionable than photos and video clips from a war zone? Why does content that effectively agitates for one government to be overthrown make the cut, while content that may make another government look bad (depending on one's own perspective) doesn't? Is Apple taking sides in international conflicts? Perhaps more disturbing is the notion that, were Apple to apply these standards consistently, apps like the one used by Syrian dissidents — and perhaps some news apps — would be barred from the App Store as well.'"

Re:Make it a web app

[betterunixthanunix]

There is also the security model of the app store: the app is digitally signed by Apple, which helps provide some confidence that it was not tampered with by a third party. For someone living under a repressive government (or even in some American high schools), having your TLS connection be tampered with is common -- so how could such a person know that they are seeing the real locations of those strikes, and not the picture that their government wanted them to see?

Of course, this whole situation could be avoided by allowing users to download software from other app stores. Not that Apple is willing to give up on the vice grip it has on iOS users.

Re:No.

[Mordok-DestroyerOfWo]

Agreed wholeheartedly! I run nothing but vanilla Debian (testing on my workstations, stable on my servers) but am the exact opposite of a Linux evangelical. Tweaking the OS is part of my hobby and I get a happy glowing feeling when my computers act like well-oiled machines. I also acknowledge that I represent about .1% of actual users and that most people just want it to work. Would a gear head ever buy a brand new car with an automatic transmission and the hood welded shut?