Apple approves and then promptly removes app that tracks US drone strikes | Hacker News Reader

Apple approves and then promptly removes app that tracks US drone strikes

theintercept.com

228 pointsmikenew12 comments

It is sad to see some HNers flag this report.

This was submitted 46 minutes ago and it is ranked #45 with 5 votes.

Meanwhile, at #39 is "Japanese researche firms part of global effort to develop spray-on solar panels" with just 3 votes (and submitted more than two hours ago). Btw I'm referencing #39 for ranking comparison purposes, I have nothing against that item.

HN ranking is very strange. But in some ways this is "old news"; Apple consistently refuse to allow what they deem to be "political" content on their App Store. Personally I strongly disagree with this kind of Maoism, but they have absolutely no intention of changing it, the public aren't going to boycott them for it, and the US government aren't going to force them to change it.

Out of curiosity, why should the government force them to change that policy?

It's hard to construct an argument that they should, other than reaching for "common carrier" status or some kind of anti-trust. To the extent that they're acting as a "publisher" they can publish what they like.

But it's still strange that Microsoft is forced to put in browser choice (and in some jurisdictions media player choice, I think), while Apple get to be a platform-monopolist. The usual argument against this is the non-dominance of the iPhone; so long as Android is the most popular OS and allows some choice of stores, I don't think anyone's successfully going to make a case against Apple.

Both the browser choice, and the "N editions" (without media player) were in the EU/EEA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Corp_v_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu

This seems to be happening more and more. It is even more noticeable if you are using a HN reader 3rd party app like me.

I didn't know the US is killing people in Yemen. When did you declare war against Yemen?

Generally it is not necessary to declare war against a country to conduct military operations in that country when those operations are done with the permission of and in cooperation with the government of that country.

The intended US targets in Yemen are generally people that the government of Yemen also wants to get rid of.

There's currently a civil/proxy war going on, therefore depending on where you are, the "government of Yemen" will be a different group. The US and Saudi Arabia supports one of those two side, Iran supports the other.

The rationale for not getting congressional approval for operations in Yemen is because it's part of the "war on terror".

We didn't. The last time we declared war was World War II.

Android versions seems untouched with an average rating of 4.7

Would someone flagging the app on the app store cause it to be pulled?

if anybody wonders, the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joshbegley...

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