Apple’s Censorship of Nudity in the App Store
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According to Business Insider, a number of fashion magazines are now having to “clean up” their content in order to get them approved and into Apple’s App Store. Dazed and Confused, a British fashion magazine, has even dubbed its iPad issue “the Iran edition” because of the strict no nudity rules they must follow.
It comes as no surprise to most people that Apple has strong control over its App Store. As a parent, I appreciate the “safeness” of the apps and know that for the most part, my kids won’t stumble into things they shouldn’t. On the other hand, I realize how difficult it must be for developers and publishers to work with Apple to get their apps and publications approved.
A report from SFGate covers three distinct standards currently in place at the iTunes Store:
- Small, independent developers are not allowed to include any “overtly sexual content”. This includes pictures of women in bathing suits.
- Magazines with established brands — Sports Illustrated and Playboy, for instance – are allowed to depict overtly sexual images of scantily clad women, but aren’t allowed to depict actual nudity. Fashion magazines appear to be in this category too.
- Netflix can stream movies to the iPad with whatever content it chooses, including full nudity, graphic depictions of sex, and brutal violence and gore.
Grumble as you may, Apple has the clout to define the standards of applications that they allow inside their store. It will be up to the developers and publishers to decide whether or not they want to follow the rules set forth by Apple.
