Apple pulls Civil War games from its App Store
Days after Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target, and other retailers announced they would no longer sell products featuring the Confederate battle flag, Apple has removed games featuring Confederate symbols from its App Store. MacRumors first reported the news.
"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 spokeswoman told CNBC. "We are not removing apps that display the Confederate flag for educational or historical uses." (Tweet This)
However, many of the removed games cited in MacRumors' reporting were Civil War games, such as Ultimate General: Gettysburg and Civil War Battle Defense, hinting that the games did not qualify as "educational or historical."
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Retailers moved en mass this week to pull Confederate battle flag merchandise from store shelves and websites this week, in the wake of a mass shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. The flag symbolizes for many ingrained racism.
Apple alerted game developers connected to apps displaying signs of the Confederacy that the apps were in violation of the App Store Guidelines Section 19.1, according to the MacRumors report.
That section warns, "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."
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For now it appears the developers will have to remove or replace the Confederate flag before their apps can again be featured in the App Store, according to MacRumors.