6 ms·

AppleCensorship

118 points by maxwell 5y ago

cirrus3 5y ago
meh.. censorship detector is not what this actually does. Read the https://applecensorship.com/methodology/ https://applecensorship.com/methodology/ "a web crawler that indexes all apps available in any of the countries and regions which currently have an App Store, and verifies availability of these apps on each of these App Stores." "So if an app is unavailable in one or more app stores, does it mean it has been censored by apple? No. Unfortunately, no algorithm could ever detect censorship that easily, for the simple reason that censorship is a human decision that is invisible in the binary realm of the World Wide Web. What the ASM does is detect if an app is available somewhere but unavailable elsewhere."
- bmarquez 5y ago
  From the website: > Ultimately, only by contacting the developer, can one confirm censorship. Yeah I wish the website did this for every app listed, because claiming censorship if a developer temporarily removes an app in a region for language fixes or bugs makes it seem like a boy who cried wolf situation. At its current form it's more of a "is this app available in your region?" database.
  - lostlogin 5y ago
    Thanks. The puzzle app deleted locally had me scratching me head.
- etchalon 5y ago
  "Here's a list of actions which might be nefarious! We don't know, and we're not gonna find out, but we can imply they are!"
- duskwuff 5y ago
  They're also treating any app that's removed from sale as having been "censored" -- even though that includes apps which were removed by their own developer. (For example, it ends up including Facebook Lite, which Facebook discontinued in 2020.) There's also a lot of apps listed under "Disappeared Apps" which look like legitimate removals for content issues, like scams or trademark infringement.
- epgui 5y ago
  This website is basically a persecution complex by design haha.
jonathanberger 5y ago
Why... why whoever made this page, would you choose to display a feedback modal right as first time visitors view your page? If collecting feedback is the most important thing you want someone to do make it front and center page content. And if it's not, then don't. I was mildly curious about the site but upon seeing the modal it was an immediate back button click for me.
- mig39 5y ago
  Whenever I see one of those on a site, I actually to the survey and fill it in with "it's annoying to be asked to do a survey before I even get to view the content." And hope that gets through to them.
  - RattlesnakeJake 5y ago
    LOL, that’s great. I just did the same.
  - bm5k 5y ago
    I worry that will just encourage this practice since "it worked, we got feedback"?
    - SwanRonson 5y ago
      I’m not a data scientist but doesn’t this just dirty the data pool and lower the confidence of any actions taken or is it rather easy to clean?
  - wsinks 5y ago
    At first I didn't see the survey, and then suddenly there it was. I had probably 60 full seconds to see the website. Worst part is that it's a poor survey too. I couldn't even answer the final question because "Your comment uses an invalid format." It's possible it's because I put in some punctutation, so I took all that out. Still errored, so I thought maybe it was because the long form let me put in like 450 characters and I did, so I wrote a short one and still errored out. Just terrible. But I did fill out the survey. I don't know how to sound disappointed without it ending up as aggressive..
TIPSIO 5y ago
For the project/mission: No specific comment. Good luck with whatever you are trying to do. For the site: I get the design choice to try and draw inspiration/influence from apple.com but this instead comes across as almost like a phishing site. I recommend finding a healthier balance.
memish 5y ago
When I first saw this I thought it was from Apple and was impressed by the transparency.
bombcar 5y ago
Apple is going to crawl up the apple of this website so fast.
VoidWhisperer 5y ago
Perhaps i'm missing something (is it supposed to be part of the 'censorship'?) but the apple logo covers parts of the text at the top on mobile
drcongo 5y ago
What absolute horseshit.
clarge1120 5y ago
I am saddened by the acceptance of corporate censorship in the USA. The degree we are will to go to in order to score politically is shortsighted. I have my political views, and wish everyone agreed with them. I even want my opponents to shut the hell up. But, I don't want them silenced by govt or corporate powers. Let the argument change my mind or theirs.
- epgui 5y ago
  I'm really curious to hear an example of why/how you feel that your political views are being silenced.
jeabays 5y ago
rayslemaias 5y ago

118 points by maxwell 5y ago

meh.. censorship detector is not what this actually does. Read the https://applecensorship.com/methodology/ https://applecensorship.com/methodology/ "a web crawler that indexes all apps available in any of the countries and regions which currently have an App Store, and verifies availability of these apps on each of these App Stores." "So if an app is unavailable in one or more app stores, does it mean it has been censored by apple? No. Unfortunately, no algorithm could ever detect censorship that easily, for the simple reason that censorship is a human decision that is invisible in the binary realm of the World Wide Web. What the ASM does is detect if an app is available somewhere but unavailable elsewhere."

bmarquez 5y ago
From the website: > Ultimately, only by contacting the developer, can one confirm censorship. Yeah I wish the website did this for every app listed, because claiming censorship if a developer temporarily removes an app in a region for language fixes or bugs makes it seem like a boy who cried wolf situation. At its current form it's more of a "is this app available in your region?" database.
- lostlogin 5y ago
  Thanks. The puzzle app deleted locally had me scratching me head.
etchalon 5y ago
"Here's a list of actions which might be nefarious! We don't know, and we're not gonna find out, but we can imply they are!"
duskwuff 5y ago
They're also treating any app that's removed from sale as having been "censored" -- even though that includes apps which were removed by their own developer. (For example, it ends up including Facebook Lite, which Facebook discontinued in 2020.) There's also a lot of apps listed under "Disappeared Apps" which look like legitimate removals for content issues, like scams or trademark infringement.
epgui 5y ago
This website is basically a persecution complex by design haha.

jonathanberger 5y ago

Why... why whoever made this page, would you choose to display a feedback modal right as first time visitors view your page? If collecting feedback is the most important thing you want someone to do make it front and center page content. And if it's not, then don't. I was mildly curious about the site but upon seeing the modal it was an immediate back button click for me.

mig39 5y ago
Whenever I see one of those on a site, I actually to the survey and fill it in with "it's annoying to be asked to do a survey before I even get to view the content." And hope that gets through to them.
- RattlesnakeJake 5y ago
  LOL, that’s great. I just did the same.
- bm5k 5y ago
  I worry that will just encourage this practice since "it worked, we got feedback"?
  - SwanRonson 5y ago
    I’m not a data scientist but doesn’t this just dirty the data pool and lower the confidence of any actions taken or is it rather easy to clean?
- wsinks 5y ago
  At first I didn't see the survey, and then suddenly there it was. I had probably 60 full seconds to see the website. Worst part is that it's a poor survey too. I couldn't even answer the final question because "Your comment uses an invalid format." It's possible it's because I put in some punctutation, so I took all that out. Still errored, so I thought maybe it was because the long form let me put in like 450 characters and I did, so I wrote a short one and still errored out. Just terrible. But I did fill out the survey. I don't know how to sound disappointed without it ending up as aggressive..

TIPSIO 5y ago

For the project/mission: No specific comment. Good luck with whatever you are trying to do. For the site: I get the design choice to try and draw inspiration/influence from apple.com but this instead comes across as almost like a phishing site. I recommend finding a healthier balance.

memish 5y ago

When I first saw this I thought it was from Apple and was impressed by the transparency.

bombcar 5y ago

Apple is going to crawl up the apple of this website so fast.

VoidWhisperer 5y ago

Perhaps i'm missing something (is it supposed to be part of the 'censorship'?) but the apple logo covers parts of the text at the top on mobile

drcongo 5y ago

What absolute horseshit.

clarge1120 5y ago

I am saddened by the acceptance of corporate censorship in the USA. The degree we are will to go to in order to score politically is shortsighted. I have my political views, and wish everyone agreed with them. I even want my opponents to shut the hell up. But, I don't want them silenced by govt or corporate powers. Let the argument change my mind or theirs.

epgui 5y ago
I'm really curious to hear an example of why/how you feel that your political views are being silenced.

jeabays 5y ago

rayslemaias 5y ago