Will Apple Block Sexist, Anti-Gay, Pro-Prostitution App?

Apple has developed a reputation for keeping offensive applications out of their online store, including one claiming to "cure" gay people and a game called "Smuggle Truck," which used racist stereotypes to mock immigrants. But another problematic app is about to be added -- the Sugar Sugar app. Not only is Sugar Sugar sexist and heteronormative, it actually facilitates the crime of prostitution and raises serious red flags of exploitation and sex trafficking.

SugarSugar is not an ordinary dating service. It uses GPS technology to connect wealthy men with women who are in financial need. If that sounds like a prostitution service to you, you're obviously listening. Facilitating a criminal activity like prostitution is a problem, but an even bigger problem is the opportunity for exploitation this app presents. Anytime a for-profit company sets up a situation in which one partner in a relationship has all the social and economic power, the the opportunity for abuse is huge. For example, mail order bride agencies have high rates of human trafficking because they pair vulnerable women with financially powerful men in situations controlled entirely by the men. Sugar Sugar does the same thing.

Not only does Sugar Sugar facilitate exploitation, it also uses derogatory and sexist language towards women -- infanticizing them by calling them "sugar babies" while the men get to be "sugar daddies." And the website is so heteronormative that if you select that you are a woman the website automatically populates the partner's gender as male. And if you manually change the gender of the partner you seek to female, the website changes your gender to male.

Furthermore, Sugar Sugar has no age verification for their "babies," making it easy for older men to use the site to lure underage girls into prostitution and facilitate child sex trafficking.

Promoting prostitution, sexual exploitation and human trafficking, denying same-sex relationships exist, and calling women "babies" all pretty clearly violations of Apple's terms of service that claim "apps that present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected." The Sugar Sugar app was set to launch June 1, but according to the company behind it, it has been delayed due to technical issues. So will Apple follow their own terms of service and block the Sugar Sugar app?

Diane Adams recently launched a campaign on Change.org asking Apple to do just that. Adams was appalled to learn that a company she respected so much would allow their technology to facilitate prostitution and human trafficking. So she's asking them to stop, and so far, over 500 people have joined her.

Apple has traditionally taken a strong stand against sexually exploitative material and blocked pornography from its products. Let's urge them to continue that stand by blocking the Sugar Sugar app from their app store.

Photo credit: Tony Buser