iOS App Forced To Revise Content After Offending Italy
by Joe White
October 30, 2010
A little known iOS app has recently been forced to revise its content, after some stereotypical comments regarding the Italian Mafia made their way into the application's final release.
What Country, developed by Apalon, offers opinions on various countries around the world. For $0.99, users can take a "virtual tour" of the globe, and learn about the varying beliefs and opinions of foreign countries. Obviously, the content is largely stereotypical. Yet, as AppFreakBlog reports, it seems What County's description of Italy went a little too far. Here's what it originally said:
The Mafia in Italy is large. No surprise. It's known as Cosa Nostra. The Mafia in Italy constitutes a formidable economic power, which accounts for 10 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).Following this, Italy's tourism minister, Michela Brambilla, asked the official state lawyer to seek What Country's removal from the App Store. Supposedly, this is because the "defamatory" description of Italy painted the country as being a Mafia paradise. She stated:
It's an offensive and unacceptable representation, what's more, accompanied by an explanatory text that, if possible, makes things even worse.Instead, the application's developers pushed out an update (version 1.1) in which the description of Italy has been revised. However, the country is still noted as being a country of "Mafia, crazy drivers, pizza, pasta, scooters." What do you think? Was the description of Italy "defamatory," or has Michela Brambilla just taken What Country a little too seriously? Let us know in the comments below!
