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Did Apple Reduce Vine’s Visibility in the App Store Following Porn Controversy?

It looks like Apple may have decided to back away from Twitter’s new Vine video-sharing app, just a little bit. It appears that Apple has stopped promoting the app as an “Editor’s Ch...
Did Apple Reduce Vine’s Visibility in the App Store Following Porn Controversy?
Written by Josh Wolford
  • It looks like Apple may have decided to back away from Twitter’s new Vine video-sharing app, just a little bit.

    It appears that Apple has stopped promoting the app as an “Editor’s Choice” selection. Vine isn’t even highlighted in the App Store’s social networking section. It’s not a “new and noteworthy” app either. That’s odd, considering that Vine is the number one free social networking app and the number four overall free app in the entire App Store.

    As you may have heard, Vine finds itself in the middle of a porn controversy. Just days after launch, we told you that Vine has become a pretty hot destination for six-second porn clips.

    Although we don’t think that the porn is that huge of a problem for the Vine app in and of itself (it’s not really that visible and is often hidden behind a click-through warning screen), we noted that it could be a problem for Vine’s chances of survival within the App Store.

    Apple has always held a pretty strict no nudity policy for its approved apps, even banning photo-sharing apps like 500px because Apple thought the app made it too easy to find pornographic images.

    It’s important to note that Apple has yet to ban Vine, even though it clearly contains its fair share of porn. Apple has also let the Twitter app hang around for years, even though Twitter also allows nudity in its posts. Apple and Twitter are partners, as Twitter is fully integrated into iOS. Maybe Apple won’t be as drastic as to ban Vine altogether, but it sure looks like the’ve reduced its visibility in the App Store.

    [Business Insider via The Verge]

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