An unofficial WikiLeaks iPhone app has been pulled from the iTunes store less than a week after being approved for sale.
The app, which cost $1.99 and donated $1 of each sale to WikiLeaks, provided a mobile version of the controversial website. Jemima Kiss reports that the app’s developer was given no reason for its removal from the store.
A search in the iTunes store reveals several other apps that include WikiLeaks RSS feeds, and Kiss points out that a few WikiLeaks apps are also available for download in the Google Android Marketplace.
While the iPhone app may have been removed for violating Apple’s terms of service, the abrupt action adds to the perception that the company is tone deaf in its role as media gatekeeper.
At TechCrunch, Alexia Tsotsis points out a number of U.S. corporations have recently distanced themselves from WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. But, without an explanation for Apple’s decision in this case, consumers and pundits are left to guess if the Wikileaks App was removed for internal policy violations or external political considerations.
Comments