[mojzu]

It seems like they were just a client for Instagram which was stripping out the ads, which would probably be a pretty clear cut violation of Instagram ToS or whatever API they were using, so I'm not surprised Google/Apple would remove it from their stores

[vorpalhex]

Google and Apple aren't, or shouldn't be, the ToS enforcers for Meta.

It's a ToS violation, not a legal one.

[dagmx]

They are however copyright enforcers and have detailed copyright infringement policies

[hdjjhhvvhga]

The copyright law in many countries contains a specific interoperability exception that explicitly allows such cases to enable "information exchange".

"Courts have recognised that reverse-engineering is important for public benefit and to encourage inventors and businesses thereby maintaining healthy competition in the market".[0]

[0] https://lexinsight.wordpress.com/2020/06/08/achieving-intero...

[soco]

Yet most technology giants are based in the States thus do what they want - within the permissive laws of their country. It's ironic how the folks here on one side get upset every time Google/Meta does something evil, yet at the same time get upset when the EU does something against Google/Meta.

[Nextgrid]

It is unclear whether a third-party client that accesses content you are otherwise licensed to access is actually infringing, and it's likely to differ in many countries as well.

[vorpalhex]

This is not copyright infringement. The users logging in have the ability and license to view the material.