John Begley made a simple iPhone app that sends you a push notification every time a U.S. drone strike was reported in the news.
Moments after publishing Metadata, he received a message informing that the app was removed for download.
https://twitter.com/joshbegley/status/846790605296558080
Its unclear why Apple decided to block the app which simply consists of points on the world map showing US drone strike locations, gathered from news reports.
Apple is widely known for its cloudy App store policies concerning third-party apps, having been accused of censorship.
U.S. drone attacks, which are reported to have killed more civilians than terrorists, have become a controversial topic but largely hidden from public view.
Filmmakers and journalists on the ground have risked their lives trying to uncover the contours of U.S. drone attacks. Their ghastly aftermath have been greatly documented and even inspired hollywood movies such as ‘The Eye in the Sky‘.
John who is a data artist, commends that smartphones have connected us more intimately with all sorts of data. The internet delivers timely reports and ugly fragments of news throughout the day, bringing us more intimate with violence.
Apple somehow views an app that simply represents information on drone attacks as the last straw and beyond the pale.
