Apple Removes Violent Games from App Store Amid Philippine Drug War

An open letter which was sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook on behalf of The Asian Network of People Who Use Drugs (ANPUD) has resulted in the iPhone maker removing “a number of games” whose storylines appeared to glorify the ongoing Philippine drug wars from the App Store.

ANPUD, which is described as an organization who represents “victims of illegal drugs,” cited in its letter that the call to remove the titles from its App Store was supported by over “100 organizations who felt that they were normalizing murder,” according to Patently Apple.

“Numerous apps currently available through Apple are actively promoting the war on people who use drugs in the Philippines,” the letter states, noting how it’s “a war that has resulted in the state-endorsed murders of more than 13,000 people – many of them children – ostensibly suspected of using or selling drugs since June 2016.”

The ‘War on Poor’

Back in June, 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte initiated what some on the international stage have referred to as the ‘War on Poor’ — a highly-controversial “war on people,” in the Philippines, who are suspected of using or selling drugs.

Duterte has not only been accused of instating a so-called ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy for Filipino Police, but he’s even extended a ‘license-to-kill’ unto private Filipino citizens, granting them freedom from prosecution if they’re charged for killing those suspected of being involved in drug trade.

According to ANPUD, the war “has brought destruction of millions of lives of people who use drugs, including thousands who are imprisoned under inhumane conditions, their families and children who were already the most marginalized in and vulnerable to the Philippines system.”

A number of the games in question were reportedly based on storylines featuring Duterte, with or without Philippine National Police director general, Ronald dela Rosa, shooting people amid a typical point of view of first-person shooter interface.

While Apple has not publicly acknowledged receiving ANPUD’s letter, the organization claims that, since sending it, most of the “games in question” have been removed.

“We did not receive a direct response from Mr. Cook or Apple Inc. however, most of the apps (games) no longer appear in the search result of app store,” ANPUD said, noting that the titles in question included ‘Duterte knows Kung Fu: Pinoy Crime Fighter’, ‘Duterte Running Man Challenge Game’, ‘Fighting Crime 2’, ‘Tsip Bato: Ang Bumangga Giba!’ — all of which featured Duterte or De La Rosa shooting down criminals.