Neowin reported just yesterday that a man who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, had his iPhone app rejected by Apple for ‘ridicules public figures’. After the story was publicized all around the Internet, Apple has backed down to the negative feedback, and asked the author to resubmit his application, as told by the WSJ.
Apple’s original rejection email stated:
“Applications may be rejected if they contain content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory.”
It appears all the negative media attention has forced Apple to rethink its decision. “I feel kind of guilty,” Fiore said in an interview. “I’m getting preferential treatment because I got the Pulitzer.”
When the application was rejected, Apple sent the author screenshots of the images and titles they found offensive, including one image of White House gate crashers, and an image of Obama and torture. Apple also included that titled such as “Learn to Speak Tea Bag” and “Terrorist Lockup II,” were offensive; all of which has been resubmitted for approval.