A group of civil society organizations has demanded that Apple remove games from its App Store that promote violence and killings commonplace in the Philippines' war on drugs (via Reuters).

The games in question, which the group said violated Apple's own guidelines, include characters based on Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and his national police chief, Ronaldo "Bato" dela Rosa, who engage criminals in gun battles and fistfights.

tsip bato ang bumangga giba mobile game download

Tsip Bato by Ranida Games

"These games valorise and normalise the emerging tyranny of Duterte's presidency and his government's disregard for human rights principles," the Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD) said in an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The group named 131 organizations from several countries as supportive of the October 10 complaint to Apple, with groups working on human rights, youth and drug policy reform among them.

They urged the tech giant to issue an apology for hosting such "insensitive content". Apple has yet to respond to the letter.

Thousands have been killed in Duterte's war on drugs, a 15-month-long campaign that has caused international alarm. Human rights groups say state-sponsored executions are taking place, but authorities vehemently reject the claim.

Games available in the App Store that have come in for criticism include Fighting Crime 2, Duterte Knows Kung Fu, Duterte Running Man Challenge, Tsip Bato, and Duterte Vs Zombies. The civil rights groups said the games "might seem harmless and fun" but are offensive and distasteful because of the reality and prevalence of state-sanctioned murder with impunity.

Ben Joseph Banta, a managing partner of Ranida Games, which developed Tsip Bato, told Reuters in an email that the aim of its game was "not to promote violence", but that it sought to discourage drug use with the use of banner messages opposing drugs that were visible to players.

"We understand the human rights groups and we're very much open to make changes in the game in order to remove the stigma that the game is promoting violence," said Banta.

On Thursday, The Guardian reported that President Duterte had ordered police to end all operations in his war on drugs. In a televised speech he said he hoped a shift to target big networks would satisfy "bleeding hearts" and interfering western states fixated on the high death toll in his brutal crackdown.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

Kaibelf Avatar
84 months ago
As much as I feel for what they are going through, we really shouldn’t be censoring what we can play and do here based on some other nation’s (often religiously rooted) morality laws. Otherwise we open the door to groups demanding female characters wear face covers, all characters be straight, no race mixing, or any number of things. Perhaps if a certain group doesn’t like the app they could just not play, similar to changing the channel. Outlawing satire though? No.
[doublepost=1507898542][/doublepost]
Video-games promote violence as much as Macbeth promotes homicide.
This hinges on the assumption that people can't tell the difference between reality and fiction.
It seems like these activists demonstrate the truth in that.

BTW, go through the bible and make a list of everyone who dies. Then look at who killed them and why.
I’d say religion is more dangerous than video games any day of the week, mainly because so many followers really can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sully54 Avatar
84 months ago
People here are missing the point completely.

The group’s demand for Apple to remove this game has nothing to do with being a social justice warrior or religion.

The Philippine president’s “war on drugs” involves police who shoot and kill people suspected of trafficking drugs without due process of the court. Many innocent people have died in the crossfire. This group is simply asking for Apple to demonstrate some discretion and remove a game that is trivializing a serious and ongoing situation.

This would be like if a shooter game came out on the App Store where the player sets up on 32nd floor and points are gained for every person he shoots down in the city below. People would be raising hell if that were to happen. And calles for such a game to pulled from the App Store wouldn’t be so much about its violence but rather the sensitivity to an event in tries to portray.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
84 months ago
SJWs are very specifically against many of your examples.
You missed the point. Those people were also the "SJWs" of their day. It's a term thrown around to undermine anyone who thinks that what's happening is wrong. People use it against Rose McGowan because of her exposure of the Weinstein situation. They use it against people who were upset about police shooting videos and actually said something about it. They said it about gay people who wanted to get married. I think it's incredibly simplistic to say "SJWs are against X". It's really no better than saying all conservatives are racists, and all liberals are begging for free stuff. In all three examples, it's lazy.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LordQ Avatar
84 months ago
Damn SJWs are the worst part of the human race, some I assume are good people (real activists).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheAppleFairy Avatar
84 months ago
Dang I was looking for a direct link for the apps. Guess I will have to search each one.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
84 months ago
Damn SJWs are the worst part of the human race, some I assume are good people (real activists).
Easy to say that, but people said the same about those who fought alongside MLK, Jefferson, Lincoln, Luther, and Jesus Christ.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....