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

[furi0usbee]

Wow! As usual, Apple is taking this way too far. In the context of the game, those flags are authentic and are not there for anything other than as historical articles of the game/period. Overreacting again!

Apple better remove all WWII movies that have the audacity to display a swastika!!!!! If we start stripping content for everything that offends, nothing will be left. Even Hello Kitty has her enemies.

 

[hexor]

This is just getting stupid.

 

[tkukoc]

Unreal! I never played any of these games but this is just going overboard. There's absolutely no reason to pull these apps when they are actually using the flag as part of the history in which it was represented.

 

[pavelbure]

Yay, our corporate overlords will decide what history can be shown to us.

 

[kalsta]

Mass shooting = removal of flags. Good call America. Whatever you do though, don't remove those guns. It's your birthright to own as many of those as you want.

 

[Janichsan]

Okay, I totally can understand and fully support the sentiment that the Confederate flag is symbol of misguided romantisation of the South and definitely has no place flying over governmental buildings. But as long as there is no actual law against its depiction (like in the case of nazi symbolism in Germany), removing applications that display it in a historical context is throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

 

[FriednTested]

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

"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."

Only ones which are defamatory. But I can't understand what is defamatory about the flag icon.

 

[jim.arrows]

Wait, you are serious, aren't you?

It's a German law, not an Apple thing if I'm not mistaken.

With regards to the removal of the civil war games, monumentally stupid decision.

 

[2499723]

As these games depict historical events or even reimagined historical events, then there's a lot less ground to stand on in removing the Confederate flag and/or rejecting the apps because of the flag's inclusion. I'm all for removing the flag in modern contexts (why this didn't happen before now, I'll never know), but in games about the Civil War? No - seems like bandwagon hopping to me.

 

[Shirasaki]

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.

I think some people are working on off topic things. Should all governments focus more on climate change, rather than conflicts between nations?

 

[KindredMAC]

Ok, this is too far now.

I agree with taking the flag down as a symbol of government...
HOWEVER, now we are getting into censorship of media and I'm not cool with that.

This is fast becoming a slippery slope. What's next?
As some have already mentioned, taking out all WWII games because of the Nazi symbol?
Censoring GTA games due to their glorification of sub-poverty urban setting and culture?

 

[longofest]

Maybe, a simple replace of icon.

Why? It's used in a historical context. Its a Civil War game for crying out loud!

This is getting out of hand.

 

[maelstromr]

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

I'm sick and tired of this PC crap.

I hate PC crap. This is not PC crap. That flag symbol has one meaning NOW. Just like the swastika had an old, even ancient, meaning but only has one real meaning now. My understanding is that this is about the main icon in the store and on the app interface using the flag, not it simply appearing in the game tied to confederate units. A WWII game surely has Nazi flags in the game, but you would NEVER make the main icon for the game the traditional Nazi flag. This is the same thing.

For any of you confused on what the confederate flag is really about:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/22/confederate-flag-racist_n_7639788.html

 

[Shirasaki]

Yay, our corporate overlords will decide what history can be shown to us.

Information control.

 

[ArcaneDevice]

Wait, you are serious, aren't you?

This is fairly common knowledge. Germany do not allow displays of Nazi symbols. Which is why they are removed from all video games by the developers. That is slightly understandable considering they were the country responsible for it's creation and actions. I guess what you have here is a parallel. The US is responsible for the Confederate battle flag and it's resulting associations too.

For me if either are used in the proper context of historical re-enactment and are not glorifying the doctrine then I think both are acceptable.

 

[Janichsan]

"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."

There definitely are quite a couple of quotes in the Bible, Torah, and/or Quran, that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited and likely to expose targeted groups to harm or violence…

 

[Jimmy James]

Mass shooting = removal of flags. Good call America. Whatever you do though, don't remove those guns. It's your birthright to own as many of those as you want.

Guns don't kill people. Bullets do.

 

[furi0usbee]

I think some people are working on off topic things. Should all governments focus more on climate change, rather than conflicts between nations?

Yeah, we can put climate change on ice for a few decades. I'm more worried about energy independence first.

 

[Shirasaki]

Why? It's used in a historical context. Its a Civil War game for crying out loud!

This is getting out of hand.

Well, to be honest, I don't really want to involve in such "nonsense", "boring", and " extremely dangerous" matters.

But talking about this removal, I think, they are trying to do something to, uh, let people have less sense on civil war.

 

[Lord Hamsa]

This is beyond ridiculous.

Emotional reaction to issues like this leads to stupid over-reaction in decisions.

Regardless of anyone's opinions on the suitability of displaying the Confederate flag in any particular venue, it is a) by all accounts, completely irrelevant to the mass-murder event in Charleston, and b) an actual piece of history (history is not restricted to that which we find pleasant or unoffensive, after all).

The use of the Confederate flag within a proper historical context should not be offensive, but educational, for crying out loud.

 

[KanosWRX]

Ok this is where I draw the line, its one thing to display the flag at a government building, its another to display it in a game that depicts a historical aspect/event. Apple is wrong here, I hope they change their mind! Can you imagine a history book without the confederate flag in it, or a movie that can't show it, its the same thing as a video game not being able to have it. Just stupid Apple, STUPID!!

 

[bbeagle]

When the Dukes of Hazard gets banned, THEN it's gone too far....

 

[longofest]

In Germany, yes.

Which in my opinion is sad. The proper way to handle "negative" imagery, etc, is to properly put them into context. MORE information, not less people!

 

[neuropsychguy]

Completely ridiculous policy. These are 'historical' games (ostensibly Civil War era games). Policy 19.1 does not apply. That was the flag of the Confederacy, no amount of banning apps changes that history. Will Apple remove all movies (e.g., Gettysburg) from their store that have "offensive" flags in them? Will they ban movies like Amistad because it depicts slavery? Will they ban religious music from iTunes because it might offend some people? Yes, I know I'm committing a slippery slope fallacy but this is a gross overreaction.

Everyone needs to vocally criticize Apple for this move (and I'm not one to vocally criticize ever).

 

[Jman13]

I am very much for removing the confederate flag from statehouses and such, but this is absurd. It's a historical game...that flag represented the armies of the confederacy in battle, and it makes perfect sense to use it in a game.