Is Apple trying to kill porn?

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This was published 11 years ago

Is Apple trying to kill porn?

The furore over a new app raises some pertinent questions.

By James Manning

It's a pretty safe assumption these days that the internet is largely taken up by pornography, and that's been proven again with a new service from Twitter.

The social network has come under fire for its new video-sharing service, called Vine, which has become something of a haven for porn. Adult content was even featured in the Editor's Pick section of the app for a short while, which understandably sparked outrage from unprepared users.

Apple ... censors some adult apps but allow others to thrive.

Apple ... censors some adult apps but allow others to thrive.

Twitter was quick to apologise for the posts, and blamed ''human error'' for selecting it in the Editor's Pick. The company said adult content is not allowed on the app, and users who post such content can face a ban. Fair enough.

But tech giant Apple has also been criticised for keeping the program in its App Store, which has a long history of vetoing apps that host adult content — whether intentionally or not.

Vine

Vine

While I am strongly opposed to censorship of any kind, Apple should really be enforcing its policies equally across the board, or not at all. Smaller, independent apps should not be nixed while the likes of Twitter and Tumblr are continually allowed to host adult content.

That being said, this case presents a strong argument against Apple's censorship in general. I'm not suggesting Apple start selling porn directly via the iTunes Store (although there's more than a buck in that for them) – but surely an option can be integrated to allow for the selling and buying of some slightly more risque apps.

After all, it's much easier to pick up your iPhone, open the Safari browser and search for porn than it is to bother searching for and downloading an app. But obviously Apple needs to have some kind of restriction system in place for the App Store.

So why can't the same parental controls that iTunes currently uses to restrict purchases of music with explicit lyrics, and movies and TV shows with adult ratings, be used more effectively for apps?

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Apps are currently ranked with age ratings of four-plus, nine-plus, 12-plus and 17-plus, but this mainly relates to violence in games rather than pornography.

This raises the question of why we as a society are more comfortable with violence than sex, but that argument is for another day.

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