Hong Kong Protest-Related App Removed by Google Play Store for Violation of Policy

This marks yet another application to be taken down that’s in favor of the protestors. However, Google’s reasoning might not go over as badly as other companies, like Apple, who took theirs down due to the Chinese government, as BeInCrypto previously reported. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., removed a game called The Revolution of Our Times, which tells the story of what’s going on through a protestor’s eyes. However, the company believes that such an app is quite insensitive given the state of things, which is the reasoning for this removal. As of now, Google states that The Revolution of Our Times violates policies set within the store that prevent apps from taking advantage of “sensitive events” and attempting to make money off of them, which this game appears to be doing. It doesn’t help that the title is a simple adventure game that doesn’t appear to have much effort put in when it comes to gameplay or any other aspect. Interestingly, Google says that while higher-ups from Hong Kong contacted them about the application, the company was already looking at it internally before being reached. This is opposite the Apple situation, where an application that helped protestors keep an eye on police movements was removed after a Chinese newspaper slandered the company for allowing it. Since then, Apple CEO Tim Cook has come out to defend Apple’s decision, stating that it was a difficult one to make especially considering the current state of things on social media, where any decision made would result in some sort of backlash. But, the publication notes that Apple has a big market share in China, whereas Google doesn’t as much, and that could largely factor into any future decisions. What do you think about Google’s decision? Apple’s? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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