Apple Removes Civil War Games From App Store Over Confederate Flag Usage [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Apple has removed seemingly all Civil War games from the App Store for displaying the Confederate Flag in "offensive and mean-spirited ways," our sister website TouchArcade has learned. Apple has sent a removal letter to affected developers to inform them that their app does not comply with Section 19.1 of the App Store Review Guidelines.

"19.1 Apps containing references or commentary about a religious, cultural or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence will be rejected."

MacRumors did a spot check of the App Store and can confirm that Apple has removed dozens of Civil War games depicting the Confederate Flag, which has been at the center of a racial controversy ignited by a Charleston, South Carolina church shooting last week. Most educational or generic Civil War apps remain available on the App Store.

A sampling of the Civil War games removed from the App Store:

Ultimate General: Gettysburg
AAA American Civil War Cannon Shooter
Civil War: Hidden Mysteries
Civil War The Battle Game
Civil War Defense
Civil War Battle Defense
1861 A Civil War Rebellion
Civil War: 1862
Civil War: 1863

Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Update 12:10 p.m. Pacific Time: In a statement provided to Buzzfeed, Apple has confirmed that it is removing apps that use the Confederate flag in "offensive or mean-spirited ways." Apple is also said to be working with game developers to get the affected apps back in the App Store after replacing the Confederate flag.

"We have removed apps from the App Store that use the Confederate flag in offensive or mean-spirited ways, which is in violation of our guidelines," an Apple spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. "We are not removing apps that display the Confederate flag for educational or historical uses."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Removes Civil War Games From App Store Over Confederate Flag Usage [Updated]

 

[0928001]

I wonder how long those apps had been available on the App Store, and in violation of that guideline?

 

[Vol7ron]

This is getting way out of control...it's a game....

 

[KdParker]

Works for me. Wish this would have been done sooner.

 

[Shirasaki]

I wonder how long those apps had been available on the App Store, and in violation of that guideline?

Maybe, a simple replace of icon.

 

[Vanilla Face]

So under that same rule basically any Bible/Torah/Quran app should be removed as well.

 

[iKrivetko]

Oh bollocks. What's next, removing WoT Blitz for being able to play as a nazi?

 

[HowlinAl]

This seems a little ridiculous.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Displaying the flag in modern society is one thing, but displaying it on the context of the era it is from is another.

Should we shut down all civil war museums too? Should Apple also remove all WW2 games that display a swastika? Should Apple pull all history textbooks from the ibook store that contain either a confederate flag or a swastika? What about all the civil war / WW2 documentaries on iTunes?

 

[Z400Racer37]

Are you serious??? Are we just gonna try to pretend that this never happened now??

It's one thing for a government not to actively fly that flag, it has no business doing that, but now we're just gonna sensor it like slavery never happened? Give me a break...

 

[Marzzz]

So what about the WW II games, do they remove anything with a Nazi flag?

 

[bigrell486]

I think within the context of the Civil War, it should be okay to show the flag. It's not like the game is called "Billy Bob's Redneck Jamboree 2015"

 

[flowsy]

So what about the WW II games, do they remove anything with a Nazi flag?

In german versions of such games - yes! They are not allowed.

 

[SpiderDude]

Holy mother of all facepalms.

 

[thatisme]

If this is indeed true, then it is the most moronic response to a (non)issue. If removing the Dukes of Hazard General Lee toys from the shelves because of the roof decal wasn't enough, this just takes the cake.

I'm sick and tired of this PC crap.

 

[iKrivetko]

In german versions of such games - yes! They are not allowed.

Wait, you are serious, aren't you?

 

[ScottNWDW]

I think people are blowing this confederate flag thing out of proportion. So what do we do now, erase the Civil War from the history books? No, it's not right that a government building is still flying the flag on 2015, but at the same time this outrage over it is just plain ridiculous. People need to get OFF the PC bandwagon and start working on the real problems of today not something that happened close to 150 years ago.

 

[skywalkerr69]

This is a total overreaction. It is a game. Shame on them for bending to appease the media.

 

[unlinked]

That is nuts.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Going to extremes to try and be politically correct is not a good move, in my opinion.

The game is historically based. Playing the game does not make one a racist anymore than allowing the game to be sold (as it has been for a long time) makes a company supportive of everything that happened in the past.

 

[BigInDallas]

Dumbest thing ever.

 

[benthewraith]

Wait, you are serious, aren't you?

Sadly he is telling the truth. The Germans have very strict laws about it. I disagree with it though. Historical revisionism is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[2499723]

So what about the WW II games, do they remove anything with a Nazi flag?

In Germany, yes.

 

[SgtPepper12]

That is a weird thing to do. I read somewhere that very recently Amazon removed all Confederate flags they offered. I never really thought about that flag as being this offensive. Especially in a context like those games I can't really see that it's explicitly trying to offending anyone.

 

[ScholarsInk]

Displaying the flag in modern society is one thing, but displaying it on the context of the era it is from is another.

Should we shut down all civil war museums too? Should Apple also remove all WW2 games that display a swastika? Should Apple pull all history textbooks from the ibook store that contain either a confederate flag or a swastika? What about all the civil war / WW2 documentaries on iTunes?

This. As a history student, this bothers me.

Are all WWII and Civil War games going to be removed from the App Store?