Apple is removing violent games from the App Store — at least when it comes to games that glorify violence against drug dealers and users in the Philippines, that is!
While a lot of us probably haven’t come across them, there is apparently a niche series of games that depict Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in a literal war on drugs. And seemingly the organisation “Asian Network of People who Use Drugs” (yes, that’s a real thing!) were none too happy about them.
In a post on their website, the group notes that:
“The Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD) led a global petition demanding Apple Incorporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Tim Cook to urgently perform a formal review and remove all the apps made available by Apple immediately and issue an apology for hosting insensitive content.
The petition was a successful advocacy effort in that the letter was able to generate huge media attention and some of the games were removed from the App Store. The case study is intended to document the story of victory and disseminate the detailed set of actions performed in the process.”
The open letter to Tim Cook was submitted on October 10, 2017, backed by a total of 131 organizations. The letter argued that these apps were in violation of the App Store Review Guidelines, which Apple evidently agreed to. The group asked Apple to, “immediately remove apps that are promoting murder, extrajudicial killings, violence and the war on drugs in the Philippines.”
Specific games mentioned include the likes of Duterte Fighting Crime 2, Duterte vs Zombies, Duterminator and Duterte Knows Kung Fu: Pinoy Crime Fighter.
You can read the Asian Network of People who Use Drugs group’s full explanation of events here.
Via: Patently Apple
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
