Apple recently pulled the 500px app from the iOS App Store and while it may be easy for Android users to casually sit back and watch, it appears as if the app may also be breaking the rules in the Google Play Store. We would hate to see the app pulled and we are certainly not the ones that will be making the decision, however according to Google, they “don’t allow content that contains nudity” in the store. Well, let us just say that you can find nude images rather quickly and easily using the 500px app.
In a quick test, we launched the app, tapped the People category and found the first. Nothing over the top, certainly not pornography, but a nude image nonetheless. Keep in mind, this didn’t even involve any searching. The picture was in plain site. We should also point out that this was from a fresh install of the app and at a stage where we were not logged in. The 500px app was downloaded, installed and launched — just as any average user would do.
Based on this it seems fairly certain that some creative searching or hunting around would only lead to other nude images. Touching back on the removal from the iOS App Store, Google seems to have similar rules against nudity. Not to mention, against child pornography. According to the Google Play Business and Program Policies;
“We don’t allow content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material. We also don’t allow content that drives traffic to commercial pornography sites.
Google has a zero-tolerance policy against child pornography. If we become aware of content with child pornography, we will report it to the appropriate authorities and delete the Google Accounts of those involved with the distribution.”
The key here, and the reason as to why 500px could also be removed from Google Play — child pornography. But let us clarify — we are not suggesting the app supports child pornography. In fact, we believe the opposite. But the complaint that had the 500px app removed from the iOS App Store included “customer complaints about possible child pornography.” Seems the person, or people responsible for making those complaints must not be an Android user.
I wonder how this will effect Tumbr which has official apps for both iOS and Android since the social network is essentially it seems 50% porn and 50% animated GIFS.
Don’t forget the kittens.
As an artist i have no problem with nudity, although there are plenty of what i consider to be dysfunctial brainwashed nincompoops who do think ‘God got it wrong’ when designing humans… and what a concept THAT is, the whole Christian creation myth!
What i do have a problem with is when evil people impose their will upon others by deploying emotionally charged accusations that are misleading or false.
The classic example of such abuse was the US govt officials who charged a female activist with child pornography for having an image of a child in a bath full of harmfull toxins caused by pollution from the fossil fuel industry (with the permission of the childs parents and not seeing anything ‘explicit because of the discolouration of the water by the toxic waste) in her presentation to the senate committee.
Those evil officials who use ‘porn’ as a ruse to protect psychopathic corporations from being prevented from poisoning children… that’s the sort of evil i despise!
Particularly when you see that authorities protect pedophiles (englands recent bbc childrens program guy being the classic example) by refusing to investigate or prosecute if the accused is a celebrity.
This issue is emotive, which means, like witchhunting, commie bashing, poofta killing, drug warring, terror warring whatevers are used as tools to harm the innocent.
I have photos in my album that my wife and i took of our newborn son in the bath, does that mean we are pedophiles? That we are criminals for having such images?
Not in our opinion, rather it is a reflection of just how deeply sick, intrinsically evil, and totally dysfunctional this society that declares war on entire species of plants and animals is!
500px has some of the most amazing photo’s I’ve ever seen. Maybe they can just restrict the adult content to the website.
I don’t think this should be the case at all, I mean, you have web browsers on the iOS app store, and the Play Store, so why restrict creative beautiful images which reflect the amazing qualities of the human form, when another app is fine, but can access full on scripted intercourse.
I think the simple solution would be to have an option to have 15+ (usually the upper body) and 18+ (full nude) shots be restricted and within another section.
As for the allegations of Child Pornography, I can’t imagine for a SECOND the 500px staff would stand for this, and I’m sure if there was any uploaded by a user (this is user submitted content after all) they’d no doubt take the proper action.
However, in the case of Google, disturbing content could easily be distributed through Google+, YouTube or even found through Google Itself, so I can’t see them not being aware of the perils of allowing users to submit their own content to your service.