Apple left racist, sexist ringtones unchecked for years
Often, in the store or the iTunes library, a team from Apple will swiftly remove content for broken links, ugly design or even microscopic mentions of the company’s competitors.
[...] yet racist and sexist apps and ringtones have remained for use and for sale — in some cases for years — despite clearly violating Apple’s policies prohibiting “defamatory, offensive (or) mean-spirited” content against religious, cultural or ethnic groups.
Do not pick up yo phone under any circumstances, says a voice in a ringtone called Don’t Answer (Successful Black Man Meme).
Kate Antoniades, a freelance writer and editor in upstate New York, created a Change.org petition this summer to have the racist ringtones removed after she came across one on iTunes featuring a faux Asian accent encouraging users to answer their “linging” phone.
Other ringtones featured “funny Asian” messages with stereotypical East Asian accents, heavily accented Indian voices saying “Thank you, come again,” and messages with a Spanish lilt shouting “Arriba!” Apps containing libraries of “funny” ringtones were left unchecked.
Among those, many also crassly referenced women’s body parts and referred to the supposed caller as a “slut” or other four-letter words.
On Monday, after a call from The Chronicle, Apple removed dozens of offending ringtones and at least one app from HaHaas Comedy that allowed users to access long lists of “funny Asian” and “gangsta Indian” ringtones.
Others, like the “Crazy Excited Mexican Pick Up Now” ringtone created by Class of ’93 Comedy Productions, were uploaded as recently as June.
According to Apple, the most common reason apps get rejected is not providing enough information, which leads to 14 percent of all submitted apps getting the boot.
In May, an update to Michael Flarup’s news alert app, Breaking, was rejected by Apple because a tiny mention of the word “Android” appeared in a screenshot on its App Store page.
A copyright issue with GIF curating app GIF Finder and the rejection of boating app SeaNavUS for its mention of Pebble support in its App Store description also led to high-profile takedowns that seemed to demonstrate Apple’s heavy-handed policing of its App Store.