A paid-for app on the Google Play store entitled Racist Jokes could be making money for Google, despite its bigoted content.
The Racist Jokes app was spotted by Tech Digest and is filled with offensive, xenophobic and humourless jokes.
Google take around 30 per cent of its estimated 1,000 to 1,5000 current sales tally, so with the Racist Jokes app priced at 63p, the search engine giant is actually making money from such offensive content.The app already has a few thousand downloads and an average rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
The Google Play store is much more open when it comes to app submission, which is both beneficial and detrimental to its reputation. The lack of a good quality control system means that sub-par Android apps do get through, but Google’s open door app policy also allows a wider range of apps to exist in the Google Play store.
Arguably Android apps allow greater control over the way a user presents their phone and how it functions, especially with apps like Facebook Home. This would never happen on iOS, as Android is a far more open platform.
Apple has recently been in the spotlight to its rather aggressive and severe App Store approval process, which saw educational app Sweatshop HD removed and an issue of popular comic SAGA banned for included two “postage stamp-sized images of gay sex”.
However, such strict sale requirements outlined by the App Store restrict access to apps like Racist Jokes. In fact, a quick search of the Google Play store reveals three other apps with the same claiming to offer “the most hilarious racist jokes on the internet”.
One of those apps invites users to download it if they “like crude humour” as it enables them to “laugh at blacks; jews; paedophilia; Mexicans; and other people”.
According to Tech Digest, these apps may even be punishable under the Crown Prosecution Service’s Racist and Religious Crime laws, so Google could afford to be a little more aware of what it offers on the Google Play store.
We think apps like Facebook Home should force iOS 7 to open up, but do you agree?
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
