Apple has updated its App Store policies to allow the use of marijuana-themed applications and images while “enforcing” a ban on “images of guns” in App Store screenshots.
TechCrunch reports these changes were partially the result of “a number of marijuana advocacy groups and mobile developers” pressuring Apple to change its policy “on drug-themed applications at the App Store.” The changes were made, and the marijuana-themed applications allowed, so long as they “perform a geolocation check” to ensure they can only be accessed by persons living in areas where marijuana use is legal—medical or otherwise.
Meanwhile, apps that show even animated gun violence—video game apps, etc.—cannot use App Store screenshots that depict firearms in any way. Such screenshots are being rejected for showing “violence against a human being,” among other things.
TechCrunch makes clear that the acceptance of marijuana-themed applications marks a change in Apple App Store policy while the ban on firearm images on App Store screenshots marks a decision to enforce a provision that already existed.
Either way, you can have marijuana-themed apps accessible in “the 23 US states where marijuana use has been legalized,” but you can’t have a firearm on the screenshot of your app in the 50 states where “the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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