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As someone who makes decisions like the one Google made here at work, sorry, dude, but arguing about it publicly isn't going to change much. Almost certainly G

As someone who makes decisions like the one Google made here at work, sorry, dude, but arguing about it publicly isn't going to change much. Almost certainly Google has received pressure from these countries on this issue and their business there is more important to google than your single app. Google likely isn't being unreasonable - but the governments of these countries are. Sorry.

tspike 3y ago
Why is there not even lip service paid to consistent enforcement?
- Spivak 3y ago
  Because running a global service in multiple sovereign jurisdictions makes it impossible to have consistent enforcement. Would you have it so only the laws of the country of the company's HQ matters? If you mean why isn't Google bringing the banhammer down on every app that fails to meet the criteria isn't that what you want? Allow as much as possible until a government complains?
- ceph_ 3y ago
  It's a slot machine game. Seems like it's being enforced properly in this scenario.
- janoc 3y ago
  Because they enforce when someone complains. They aren't going to proactively ban stuff unless they really have to (e.g. something that is very obviously illegal/scam/etc.) So if nobody complained about the other apps, they didn't get banned. It is that easy. That someone else does something that violates those policies/laws too doesn't mean that you get a free pass, unfortunately.
  - tspike 3y ago
    I'd buy that if the app stores weren't proactively rejecting apps for the same reasons they fail to enforce on others.
- TulliusCicero 3y ago
  Making it consistent across different national laws means ignoring those laws. Does anyone think Google should just ignore national laws as a general policy?
  - mrguyorama 3y ago
    Only the ones they don't like.
- graypegg 3y ago
  Consistant enforcement means “local laws are consistently applied”. There isn’t one globally recognized list of content moderation standards.
paulddraper 3y ago
> arguing about it publicly isn't going to change much Okay fair enough. What is going to change much?
- stronglikedan 3y ago
  The only answer is, likely nothing. There's likely nothing you or anyone else can do to get the governments of those countries to change anything about the way they govern. It's not a tree worth barking up.
  - rvnx 3y ago
    Well, there is a solution, but it's unpopular, so it may negatively impact company valuation. Lobbying government of US, to send them "democracy". Or hire PMCs (Alphabet has 113B USD in cash). Or push news and content that is against the local government (but this is half-joke). So it's possible if you really want.
- graypegg 3y ago
  I guess on the other side of the argument: why does a game developer in one country feel obliged to change the content standard set by another country? It’s a pretty minor variance all things considered. Maybe you just can’t “change much” here? (Also: I don’t agree with the obviously silly content rules.)
- cmdli 3y ago
  Probably changing the laws in those countries, which only the citizens of those countries can really do. Google isn't the cause here, just the middleman.
  - TulliusCicero 3y ago
    And in many cases, they can't either, if the country isn't democratic.
    - mcpackieh 3y ago
fishtoaster 3y ago
Historically, it seems like "arguing publicly, getting public outcry, and getting the notice of someone higher up the chain" is pretty much the only way to effectively appeal these sorts of decisions at Google. I don't know if it'll work in this case, since google's argument ("this contains a slot simulator and some countries don't like that") isn't too egregious, but I can't really fault the dev. When the faceless review process fails, this sort of public appeal has worked before.
- Paul-Craft 3y ago
  > Historically, it seems like "arguing publicly, getting public outcry, and getting the notice of someone higher up the chain" is pretty much the only way to effectively appeal these sorts of decisions at Google. Not just Google. It seems like a lot of large corporations effectively outsource their customer service to (the platform formerly known as) Twitter and such. Complaining on social media gets results, even after one has been stonewalled by official channels. And, even if it fails, you can frequently generate a lot of buzz by complaining loudly on social media. How many people reading this do you think had never heard of this game before just now?
  - davely 3y ago
    I’m about to go through the same thing myself due to my Facebook Marketplace account getting banned for… no idea? Some sort of automated moderation kerfuffle. No matter how many times I click “request a review of this decision” through their customer service portal, my appeal is automatically denied. When there’s no way to get customer support from a company, it’s the only other thing left to do.

tspike 3y ago

Why is there not even lip service paid to consistent enforcement?

Spivak 3y ago
Because running a global service in multiple sovereign jurisdictions makes it impossible to have consistent enforcement. Would you have it so only the laws of the country of the company's HQ matters? If you mean why isn't Google bringing the banhammer down on every app that fails to meet the criteria isn't that what you want? Allow as much as possible until a government complains?
ceph_ 3y ago
It's a slot machine game. Seems like it's being enforced properly in this scenario.
janoc 3y ago
Because they enforce when someone complains. They aren't going to proactively ban stuff unless they really have to (e.g. something that is very obviously illegal/scam/etc.) So if nobody complained about the other apps, they didn't get banned. It is that easy. That someone else does something that violates those policies/laws too doesn't mean that you get a free pass, unfortunately.
- tspike 3y ago
  I'd buy that if the app stores weren't proactively rejecting apps for the same reasons they fail to enforce on others.
TulliusCicero 3y ago
Making it consistent across different national laws means ignoring those laws. Does anyone think Google should just ignore national laws as a general policy?
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  Only the ones they don't like.
graypegg 3y ago
Consistant enforcement means “local laws are consistently applied”. There isn’t one globally recognized list of content moderation standards.

paulddraper 3y ago

> arguing about it publicly isn't going to change much Okay fair enough. What is going to change much?

stronglikedan 3y ago
The only answer is, likely nothing. There's likely nothing you or anyone else can do to get the governments of those countries to change anything about the way they govern. It's not a tree worth barking up.
- rvnx 3y ago
  Well, there is a solution, but it's unpopular, so it may negatively impact company valuation. Lobbying government of US, to send them "democracy". Or hire PMCs (Alphabet has 113B USD in cash). Or push news and content that is against the local government (but this is half-joke). So it's possible if you really want.
graypegg 3y ago
I guess on the other side of the argument: why does a game developer in one country feel obliged to change the content standard set by another country? It’s a pretty minor variance all things considered. Maybe you just can’t “change much” here? (Also: I don’t agree with the obviously silly content rules.)
cmdli 3y ago
Probably changing the laws in those countries, which only the citizens of those countries can really do. Google isn't the cause here, just the middleman.
- TulliusCicero 3y ago
  And in many cases, they can't either, if the country isn't democratic.
  - mcpackieh 3y ago

fishtoaster 3y ago

Historically, it seems like "arguing publicly, getting public outcry, and getting the notice of someone higher up the chain" is pretty much the only way to effectively appeal these sorts of decisions at Google. I don't know if it'll work in this case, since google's argument ("this contains a slot simulator and some countries don't like that") isn't too egregious, but I can't really fault the dev. When the faceless review process fails, this sort of public appeal has worked before.

Paul-Craft 3y ago
> Historically, it seems like "arguing publicly, getting public outcry, and getting the notice of someone higher up the chain" is pretty much the only way to effectively appeal these sorts of decisions at Google. Not just Google. It seems like a lot of large corporations effectively outsource their customer service to (the platform formerly known as) Twitter and such. Complaining on social media gets results, even after one has been stonewalled by official channels. And, even if it fails, you can frequently generate a lot of buzz by complaining loudly on social media. How many people reading this do you think had never heard of this game before just now?
- davely 3y ago
  I’m about to go through the same thing myself due to my Facebook Marketplace account getting banned for… no idea? Some sort of automated moderation kerfuffle. No matter how many times I click “request a review of this decision” through their customer service portal, my appeal is automatically denied. When there’s no way to get customer support from a company, it’s the only other thing left to do.