[Air-L] Censorship and mobile apps

Luis Hestres luishestres at gmail.com
Tue Feb 4 10:20:21 PST 2014


Hi Magdalena,  

If I may plug my own research on this subject, here’s an article I published last year:

http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1904

Here’s the abstract:

App Neutrality: Apple’s App Store and Freedom of Expression Online  

Apple’s wireless devices have become a critical entry point into the Internet. But unlike the broader Internet, which can be construed as a relatively open communications network, the iOS app store is arguably a closed technological ecosystem. Developers must gain Apple’s approval before distributing their apps through the store. Some have criticized the company’s app review and approval process for being opaque and arbitrary. This process has also resulted in the rejection of both explicitly and implicitly political apps. This article analyzes Apple’s guidelines and approval process, discusses content-based rejections of apps, and outlines the consequences of this process for developers’ and consumers’ freedom of expression. It also argues for principles that guarantee “app neutrality” while also guaranteeing device safety and quality control.  

- - - - -
Luis E. Hestres
Ph.D. candidate | School of Communication | American University
More about me at luishestres.com (http://luishestres.com/) or LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/hestres) | Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/luishestres/) | Visit my SSRN Author page (http://ssrn.com/author=1820222)

"Theoretical critiques are like sociopaths: Their aggressive drives are rarely balanced by constructive instincts."  -- From "Caught in a Winding, Snarling Vine: The Structural Bias of Political Process Theory" by Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, Sociological Forum 14(1), 1999


On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 at 10:53 AM, Sarah Choukah wrote:

> Hi Magdalena,
>  
> This might of interest for
> you<https://www.academia.edu/4184524/From_the_Digital_to_the_Tentacular_or_From_iPods_to_Cephalopods_-_Apps_Traps_and_Entrees-without-Exi>.
> The paper is called: "From the Digital to the Tentacular, or From iPods to
> Cephalopods: Apps, Traps, and Entrées‐without‐Exit" (interesting title,
> right?), and it's written by Dan Mellamphy and Nandita Biswas Mellamphy for
> an upcoming book on apps they're editing at MIT Press. The chapter is much
> broader in scope but I think it's very easy to get from themes like
> "capitalist reticulation" to that of more specific issues such as
> censorship on the theoretical front.
>  
> Hope this helps,
>  
> Sarah Choukah
> Doctorante
> Département de communication
> Université de Montréal
>  
>  
> On Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 10:00 AM, Kristin Williams <krismw11 at umd.edu (mailto:krismw11 at umd.edu)> wrote:
>  
> > Hi Magdalena,
> >  
> > This chapter recently came to my attention. I haven't read it, but it
> > looks like it might be in the right direction.
> >  
> > Chapter 3. Digital Deprivation: New Media, Civil Society and Sustainability
> > Paddy Coulter and Cathy Baldwin
> >  
> > From
> > CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE AGE OF MONITORY DEMOCRACY
> > Edited by Lars Trägårdh, Nina Witoszek, & Bron Taylor
> > Afterword by Bill McKibben
> >  
> > All the best,
> > -Kristin
> >  
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org (mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org) [mailto:
> > air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org (mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org)] On Behalf Of Magdalena O!
> > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2014 8:59 PM
> > To: <air-l at listserv.aoir.org (mailto:air-l at listserv.aoir.org)>
> > Subject: [Air-L] Censorship and mobile apps
> >  
> > Hello,
> >  
> > I'm writing about censorship and Instagram and looking for more research
> > on censorship and mobile apps. I can't seem to find any.
> >  
> > Thank you so much
> >  
> > Magdalena
> >  
> > =^.^=
> >  
> > Magdalena Olszanowski, PhD Student, SSHRC Fellow Senior Research
> > Assistant, Mobile Media Lab<http://mobilities.ca> HASTAC Scholar
> > Communication Studies Concordia University Montreal, QC
> >  
> > @raisecain<http://twitter.com/raisecain>
> >  
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>  
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