Apple said on Wednesday that an app belonging to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones remains in its App Store since it has not been found to be in violation of any content policies, Reuters informs. The Infowars app has become the third most-downloaded news app this week after Apple removed access on Sunday to some of Jones’s podcasts from its digital store.
However, the company had not explained why the app remained available until issuing a statement on Wednesday. “We strongly support all points of view being represented on the App Store, as long as the apps are respectful to users with differing opinions, and follow our clear guidelines, ensuring the App Store is a safe marketplace for all,” Apple told Reuters.
Apple’s distinction between the app and the podcast is that Infowars content in the app is more ephemeral, as videos go away after they’re broadcast. The podcasts were taken down because episodes were always searchable, CNBC writes.
The company also noted it regularly monitors all apps for content violations. “We continue to monitor apps for violations of our guidelines and if we find content that violates our guidelines and is harmful to users we will remove those apps from the store as we have done previously,” Apple said.
Alphabet, Facebook and Spotify also removed some content this week that had been produced by Jones. Google didn’t explain why the Infowars app was not removed in its app store as part of the actions.
Infowars has been a hot topic of debate on social media, as most social media network removed podcasts, videos and pages posted by Jones, stepping up efforts to remove content violating their policies.
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