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Apple blocks 'objectionable' app that reports deaths from US drone strikes Apple blocks 'objectionable' app that reports deaths from US drone strikes
(about 2 months later)
Software giant Apple has blocked an app that would notify subscribers every time a US drone carried out a deadly mission on the grounds that it is "objectionable and crude", according to the program's designer.Software giant Apple has blocked an app that would notify subscribers every time a US drone carried out a deadly mission on the grounds that it is "objectionable and crude", according to the program's designer.
Josh Begley, a graduate student at New York University, developed Drones+ to provide up-to-date information on strikes, using reports collated by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism – an organisation that tracks the use of unmanned CIA aircrafts.Josh Begley, a graduate student at New York University, developed Drones+ to provide up-to-date information on strikes, using reports collated by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism – an organisation that tracks the use of unmanned CIA aircrafts.
But repeated attempts to get Apple to offer the software at its app store have been fruitless. At first, Begley was informed that the program – which he hoped would raise awareness of the growing death toll from drone strikes – was "not useful" enough and did not appeal to a "broad enough audience".But repeated attempts to get Apple to offer the software at its app store have been fruitless. At first, Begley was informed that the program – which he hoped would raise awareness of the growing death toll from drone strikes – was "not useful" enough and did not appeal to a "broad enough audience".
The company position has since shifted, but only in the reasoning behind its refusal to stock Drones+.The company position has since shifted, but only in the reasoning behind its refusal to stock Drones+.
In the latest rejection email, Apple reportedly informed him: "We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable, which is not in compliance with the app store review guidelines."In the latest rejection email, Apple reportedly informed him: "We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable, which is not in compliance with the app store review guidelines."
A video demonstration of Drones+ shows that the app is designed to flash up an alert when a new strike is reported, with details of how many people were killed. An interactive map shows subscribers where the air assault took place and how many others had taken place near it.A video demonstration of Drones+ shows that the app is designed to flash up an alert when a new strike is reported, with details of how many people were killed. An interactive map shows subscribers where the air assault took place and how many others had taken place near it.
Begley, 27, told the Guardian that he didn't expect the app to be wildly popular, but hoped it would raise awareness. He added: "I built it because it is something I would like to use myself".Begley, 27, told the Guardian that he didn't expect the app to be wildly popular, but hoped it would raise awareness. He added: "I built it because it is something I would like to use myself".
There has been a marked increase in the use of drones by the US in recent months in Pakistan and Yemen as part of a stated strategic move towards a slimmed down military that relies more on technology.There has been a marked increase in the use of drones by the US in recent months in Pakistan and Yemen as part of a stated strategic move towards a slimmed down military that relies more on technology.
Earlier this year, defence secretary Leon Panetta unveiled proposals to increase America's fleet of unmanned armed aircraft by nearly a third.Earlier this year, defence secretary Leon Panetta unveiled proposals to increase America's fleet of unmanned armed aircraft by nearly a third.
The attacks have led to increased tensions between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan has long criticised the use of drones and the high rate of civilian casualties that can result from their use.The attacks have led to increased tensions between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan has long criticised the use of drones and the high rate of civilian casualties that can result from their use.
Figures from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism show that drones struck Pakistan 75 times in 2011, causing up to 655 fatalities.Figures from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism show that drones struck Pakistan 75 times in 2011, causing up to 655 fatalities.
The majority of those killed were alleged militants, but as many as 126 civilians may have also lost their lives in last year's attacks, the bureau's figures reveal.The majority of those killed were alleged militants, but as many as 126 civilians may have also lost their lives in last year's attacks, the bureau's figures reveal.
Begley's app does not link to any graphic images of drone attacks, but reveals information about their existence.Begley's app does not link to any graphic images of drone attacks, but reveals information about their existence.
Even so, Apple looks unlikely to sanction the app, having come down against it on three separate occasions.Even so, Apple looks unlikely to sanction the app, having come down against it on three separate occasions.
It has left the software developer looking elsewhere as he plans to take the software forward.It has left the software developer looking elsewhere as he plans to take the software forward.
"The plan now is to try and develop it for Android," he said."The plan now is to try and develop it for Android," he said.
Apple did not return the Guardian's request for comment.Apple did not return the Guardian's request for comment.
Comments
112 comments, displaying first
30 August 2012 10:03PM
This is Freedom of Expression US style
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30 August 2012 10:14PM
Oh, and don't forget all males over 18 killed in strikes are assumed to be combatants too! So really, "collateral damage" is even higher.
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30 August 2012 10:20PM
Shameful behaviour by Apple.
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30 August 2012 10:25PM
People don't care.
Most people reading this enthusiastically support the ethical crimes of Apple with their wallets.
It's hypocritical for them to care.
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30 August 2012 10:28PM
Yet another reason to abhor Apple.
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30 August 2012 10:35PM
They're all in it together.......
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30 August 2012 10:35PM
A rotten Apple?
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30 August 2012 10:36PM
They say Apple(s) never fall far from the tree.
Not surprising news.
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30 August 2012 10:39PM
Perhaps Mr Begley should have called his app 'iKill'!
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30 August 2012 10:46PM
With Apple censoring deaths from drone attacks and Cif censoring every comment it doesn't like, I think these 2 organisations are in cahoots. But to what end?
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30 August 2012 10:56PM
Apple won't touch this application because there is too much nasty realism in the data it conveys, even in the absence of graphics, for a major American corporation to tolerate. Murder by robots is worse than porn, from their perspective.
Of course the application should be available as it is humane rather than sensationalistic in intent. This is a shameful and quite stupid decision by Apple.
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30 August 2012 11:02PM
I don't agree with KILLER drones. Recce OK.
I've never brought anything from Apple.
IBM, LG, Racal, Phillips, most Civil/Military producers I have because the good outweights the bad.
Bit like the King James bible/Quran.
There is a lot of dual use technology going around since Alexander, and Qin Shi Huang used scribes for messages.
Apple's attitude, is wrong.
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30 August 2012 11:08PM
I'm guessing Apple don't want the pavlovian chirp of an iphone associated with anything more innocuous than a facebook update/text message/tweet. Couldn't he set up a twitter account that updates with the same information, or provides some kind of link? The tools are there to get the information released, regardless of what apple does.
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30 August 2012 11:13PM
This is Freedom of Expression US style
No - this is Freedom of Expression Apple style.
Apple users live in a walled garden and should not be allowed out to play on the Internet - this is not news, carry on.
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30 August 2012 11:49PM
Really? So fools can download an app to their expensive phones telling them when people on the other side of the world are being killed without due process, all so that they can pretend to care?
Vicarious outrage.
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30 August 2012 11:50PM
Who appointed them censor?
The future is rotten. The future is Apple.
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30 August 2012 11:52PM
So all it does is take a the feed from web site which as huge political axe to grind and itself using speculation as to what has happened, the it adds a bit graphics using goggle maps .
And it is speculation has without on the ground confirmation , its very hard if not impossible to know how many or who was killed.
'reveals information about their existence'
The 'evidenced of any strike comes from trawl of news web sites not from actual direct knowledge of these events so the information already 'revealed' and in the public realm.
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30 August 2012 11:57PM
Sorry, but Apple are right, it certainly does sound 'objectionable and crude' - if the app was written by some right wing tea-party type to notify users of another 'success' against the terrorist hoards, I'm sure the opinions here would be quite different, even though it would be providing the same functionality. Noble intentions do not always lead to noble outcomes.
Besides, this sort of thing is more suited to an RSS feed.
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31 August 2012 12:08AM
He has to make a game with drones that smash into people. That would be okay. You know, no real stuff, just virtual reality that sends people to the land of fantasy.
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31 August 2012 12:09AM
Whiff of hypocrisy here as Apple iphones can be used to control drones
http://www.macworld.com/article/1153601/ardronehandson.html
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31 August 2012 12:09AM
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31 August 2012 12:10AM
Sorry, but Apple are right, it certainly does sound 'objectionable and crude' - if the app was written by some right wing tea-party type to notify users of another 'success' against the terrorist hoards, I'm sure the opinions here would be quite different, even though it would be providing the same functionality. Noble intentions do not always lead to noble outcomes.
No. It would be objectionable and crude, but it would be cesnorship. What needs to stop are the drone attacks on civilians and on people in places where the USA has no business to be. That's the real crude and objectionable aspect. Apple are just being arses.
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31 August 2012 12:12AM
Don't forget that the UK and the USA are divided, also culturally, by the same language.
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31 August 2012 12:15AM
Father Ted: Well now then, Father Jack, What do think of Father Dougal's new mobile phone that came all the way from America?
Father Jack: Arse apples!
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31 August 2012 12:23AM
No - this is Freedom of Expression Apple style.
Apple users live in a walled garden and should not be allowed out to play on the Internet - this is not news, carry on.
This is not the only time that US media, US Government, US Military did suppress unfavorable news. Example Rumsfeld comment "We don't count Bodies" referring to Iraqis causalities.
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31 August 2012 12:25AM
This does not bode well for my app which I call 'collateral damage"
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31 August 2012 12:42AM
Josh Begley certainly knows how to market his product. All he has to do now is re-jig for android and he's in business.
If it works as it's supposed to, it will be a real boon for those who argue against the on-going war in Afghanistan. Wonder where he gets the data from... Does the US list their drone strikes somewhere? On a publicly accessible website? Or are they from reports from ground zero, relying on mobile phone contacts? Would be good to know.
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31 August 2012 12:42AM
So Apple doesn't believe in the First Amendment ....
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31 August 2012 12:46AM
That's OK...despite the Apple's "mystique" and ability to garner media attention, developing the app for Android will mean it can reach an audience at least as big, if not bigger.
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31 August 2012 12:47AM
'We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable, which is not in compliance with the app store review guidelines.'
Funny, that. I had an app on my iPhone which was pushing all the latest free apps to me and about 20-30% were, in my eyes, objectionable - from crude and offensive to extremely crude and offensive.
This app sounds like just the sort of thing that should be running in the background on all US smartphones with 24 hour audio notifications - for a reality check something along the lines of those realistic baby dolls that need feeding in the middle of the night.
No wonder I feel suicidal.
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31 August 2012 12:47AM
objectionable and crude
Just like the drone attacks themselves? Surely that's the real outrage here? All this lathering at the mouth at Apple is missing the point. In fact by wording their rejection in this way they've shone the spotlight exactly where it should be - on US foreign policy. Save your wrath for something that matters.
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31 August 2012 12:48AM
No. This is freedom of expression APPLE-style.
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31 August 2012 12:50AM
Apple doesn't have to believe in the First Amendment. The First Amendment protects the people from the government. It has nothing to do with corporations.
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31 August 2012 12:52AM
Then on Android (since it is owned by Goggle), it would be called "YouKill."
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31 August 2012 1:00AM
Why not let users decide what is "objectionable" or "crude"? I assume the app would not be force-downloaded to people who might object. In fact, the whole premise of the app-store is to browse for and download things you want. How would this EVER get onto the iPhone of someone who did not WANT it?
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31 August 2012 1:00AM
Coz the Army is paid by tax money, people should have a chance to find out where their tax money goes, don't they?
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31 August 2012 1:02AM
Nor does it bode well for my app which I call "The History of US Foreign Policy," which is the epitome of "crude and objectionable."
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31 August 2012 1:09AM
Sorry, but Apple are right, it certainly does sound 'objectionable and crude' - if the app was written by some right wing tea-party type to notify users of another 'success' against the terrorist hoards, I'm sure the opinions here would be quite different, even though it would be providing the same functionality. Noble intentions do not always lead to noble outcomes.
You're confusing the issue. It's not whether the app is 'objectionable and crude' or not but who decides that.
Apple are denying people the chance to make up their own minds which is surely what the Internet was all about? That and cats doing funny stuff.
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31 August 2012 1:18AM
Very Orwellian - the mighty Apple corporation decrees that information cannot be published. They must be laughing their socks off at Langley. Or perhaps they really do control Apple. Either way when private companies od the work of the US government for them it is a very significant moment. We are all on a slippery slope to ....
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31 August 2012 1:45AM
No, I'm not confusing issue at all. A store declining to carry a product is not the same as censorship. The full
'uncensored' Internet works just fine on Apple devices without needing to go anywhere near the app store.
Making a platform specific app is a stupid way of approaching this anyway. IOS and Android both have Twitter integration. If I was going to try and raise awareness of drone strikes, I'd create a twitter account that people could follow, and publish alerts to that with a link to a web page with the rest of the details/maps etc.
This would provide the intended functionality of to users on all platforms (not just iOS). Without the bollocks.
If I was to print up a load of rolls of Jubilee toilet paper with the queens face printed on every sheet, I wouldn't feel I was being censored if say I tried to get Tesco to flog em for me, but they declined.
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31 August 2012 1:54AM
"The plan now is to try and develop it for Android," he said.
Probably should of gone with that plan in the first place...
Apple did not return the Guardian's request for comment.
Muhahahahahaha ....
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31 August 2012 1:56AM
Blofeld, my bad...
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31 August 2012 2:05AM
The thought of the para-military creeps that would be sitting around getting vicarious thrills from this app is nauseating, but I must say that knowledge is NEVER objectionable. Sometimes the truth is ugly and unpleasant.
I'm more infuriated at the government [mine, sadly] that is deploying these murderous drones without legal or just cause, than I am angry at Apple. It would be fantastic if people pointed their energies towards stopping THAT.
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31 August 2012 2:33AM
It's ok to use drones to kill just not to report it?
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31 August 2012 2:47AM
Land of the free, home of the brave indeed,
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31 August 2012 3:16AM
Utterly superb application.
Kudos. Kudos. Kudos.
This is what tech is for.
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31 August 2012 3:26AM
Drones are a great way to target terrorists in a safe and cost effective manner. Of course the Americans are going to use them.
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31 August 2012 3:34AM
was "not useful" enough

As if being useful was a prerequisite for accepting any app in the store...
Interesting idea, but I guess raising awareness in this area is the last thing the US gov't would want. Unless the kid wants to end up seeking asylum in Ecuador, I say he'd better drop this.
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31 August 2012 3:38AM
Was this a stunt? Of course Apple, who are famed for their dictatorial control of the App Store, wouldn't allow it.
If you want to get a mobile app out there with minimal interference, you write for Android.
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31 August 2012 4:41AM
1) Person runs shop
2) Person decides what they would like to sell in shop
3) Idiots shout 'censorship'.
Link to this comment:
Comments on this page are now closed.
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NYU student Josh Begley dismayed that his software – which shows no graphic images – was blocked from Apple's store
Software giant Apple has blocked an app that would notify subscribers every time a US drone carried out a deadly mission on the grounds that it is "objectionable and crude", according to the program's designer.
Josh Begley, a graduate student at New York University, developed Drones+ to provide up-to-date information on strikes, using reports collated by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism – an organisation that tracks the use of unmanned CIA aircrafts.
But repeated attempts to get Apple to offer the software at its app store have been fruitless. At first, Begley was informed that the program – which he hoped would raise awareness of the growing death toll from drone strikes – was "not useful" enough and did not appeal to a "broad enough audience".
The company position has since shifted, but only in the reasoning behind its refusal to stock Drones+.
In the latest rejection email, Apple reportedly informed him: "We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable, which is not in compliance with the app store review guidelines."
A video demonstration of Drones+ shows that the app is designed to flash up an alert when a new strike is reported, with details of how many people were killed. An interactive map shows subscribers where the air assault took place and how many others had taken place near it.
Begley, 27, told the Guardian that he didn't expect the app to be wildly popular, but hoped it would raise awareness. He added: "I built it because it is something I would like to use myself".
There has been a marked increase in the use of drones by the US in recent months in Pakistan and Yemen as part of a stated strategic move towards a slimmed down military that relies more on technology.
Earlier this year, defence secretary Leon Panetta unveiled proposals to increase America's fleet of unmanned armed aircraft by nearly a third.
The attacks have led to increased tensions between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan has long criticised the use of drones and the high rate of civilian casualties that can result from their use.
Figures from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism show that drones struck Pakistan 75 times in 2011, causing up to 655 fatalities.
The majority of those killed were alleged militants, but as many as 126 civilians may have also lost their lives in last year's attacks, the bureau's figures reveal.
Begley's app does not link to any graphic images of drone attacks, but reveals information about their existence.
Even so, Apple looks unlikely to sanction the app, having come down against it on three separate occasions.
It has left the software developer looking elsewhere as he plans to take the software forward.
"The plan now is to try and develop it for Android," he said.
Apple did not return the Guardian's request for comment.