Apple, Google criticised for Saudi Absher app that tracks women

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Feb 12, 2019, 2:28 AM UTC

sriram_malhar wrote: post #28

rgbrenner wrote: post #27

They let you download the app... but they do NOT host the service. That's run by the Ministry of Interior. EDIT: I had a paragraph below this saying the laws were really the problem and would still exist without the app.. but I forgot one key point: how easy it was to subvert the system before the app existed. I've removed that section. I fully support removing the app from the app stores and forcing SA to go back to…

I agree, but I don't see why we shouldn't do both. We should press both Google and Apple to remove the app, as it helps out a horrible practice. What next, a database on female genital mutilation? Both Google and Apple have removed apps for far more trivial reasons.

Post by pault » Tue, Feb 12, 2019, 2:39 AM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #37

pault wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am aware of the repression of women in SA but I didn't realize they weren't even allowed to leave the country. The addition of real time tracking technology just makes it that much more horrifying. Imagine being a woman trying to escape domestic abuse and being returned to your abuser when you try to flee.

I was referring more to your faux astonishment that it is going on. Did you know that genital mutilation is still common in parts of the world? There's global slave traffic. Etc., etc., etc. Of course we are doing a lot better than history if you look at things in a statistical sense, but it takes a pretty insular world view to act astonished that there's shitty stuff going on.

Post by thatoneyouthrow » Tue, Feb 12, 2019, 2:39 AM UTC

ng12 wrote: post #31

amanzi wrote: post #2

The precedent has already been set (e.g. Infowars) that hosting an app on your platform is an endorsement of the content and the publisher of the app.

Agreed. Plausible deniability is maintained but the facts are the same. We, as a society, need to move away from the silly idea that companies should be moral judicators.

Post by option » Tue, Feb 12, 2019, 2:40 AM UTC

NoblePublius wrote: post #23

I can’t believe that Lyft doesn’t cover the Bay Area with billboards that say “Saudi Arabia beats women and owns 10% of Uber.” “Saudi Arabia murders gay people and owns 10% of Uber.” “Saudi Arabia crucified two people last year and owns 10% of Uber.”

Post by cazum » Tue, Feb 12, 2019, 2:42 AM UTC

pault wrote: post #33

maxerickson wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you just not been paying attention or something?

I am aware of the repression of women in SA but I didn't realize they weren't even allowed to leave the country. The addition of real time tracking technology just makes it that much more horrifying. Imagine being a woman trying to escape domestic abuse and being returned to your abuser when you try to flee.