[r_lee]

I'd usually say it'd be far fetched

but I can totally see Google banning developers and removing their apps for political reasons, where some lobbying group bombs them with emails

because with this they're explicitly saying they're now choosing who gets to be in or out, there's no way for them to say we can't do anything about it

I do think this would improve security, but I also think it's sort of a Trojan horse to lock down the ecosystem

[nok22kon]

> several Russian mobile apps related to the Russian internet company VK were deleted from the U.S. tech giant's App Store.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-demands-explana...

[surajrmal]

Banning it from the app store is different from banning from distributing their app on any surface. It's closer to Walmart choosing to not carry a product vs the government saying no one may carry that product. Of course both can happen for political reasons but generally the latter is a bigger hammer applied less often.

[r_lee]

my point still stands, the problem is, now instead of Google saying "we can't do anything about it" any lobbying/political group can go and say "well you could just ban it, does this mean you approve of this app?"

it's like how credit card companies can shut down porn sites overnight by citing their terms of service