Porn on Amazon’s Kindle app prompts warnings from Apple, Alphabet

Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc have raised concerns with Amazon.com Inc after learning that children could access sexually explicit photos on the popular Kindle app, urging Amazon to strengthen its content controls.

The warnings stemmed from questions asked by Reuters to spokespeople for the three companies about the ability for users to access and view online volumes of nude women’s photos, such as “75 hot fully nude photos of young people,” through the Kindle app. blonde” and “Real Erotica: Amateur Naked Girls – Vol. 4”. Some appeared to show women and men engaging in sexual activity.

The companies said their concerns were related to policy violations, but did not provide details on how their policies were violated or their warnings to Amazon.

Reuters became aware of the problem after two families told Reuters their teenage sons downloaded clear material through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited e-book subscription service and viewed full-color photos on the Kindle iPhone app. Pornography is also available through Amazon’s Kindle online store and can be viewed in versions of the Kindle app.

The parents, who declined to be named, told Reuters they were initially interested in the $10-a-month service because it offered access to age-specific book series that would otherwise be expensive to buy and were not available on Amazon’s Kids+ subscription service.

“We are committed to providing a safe shopping and reading experience for our customers and their families, and we take such matters seriously,” Amazon said in a statement to Reuters. “We will review all available information and take action on our findings.”

Referring to Amazon, Apple said: “We have shared these concerns with the developer and are working with them to ensure their app complies with our guidelines.”

Google said in a statement that “Google Play does not allow apps that contain or promote sexual content, and we have been in contact with the developer about this.”

Such exchanges are rare among technology companies, which, while competitive, are interdependent for various services. Kindle and Amazon apps are consistently the most downloaded in the Google and Apple app stores.

The adult material in question is mainly self-published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing department. Authors can self-publish their books almost instantly through Amazon and can make content available for Kindle Unlimited. Under the terms of Amazon’s self-publishing division, it says it can refuse to sell content it deems “offensive or inappropriate,” which could include content that “contains pornography.”

Amazon is the world’s leading e-book distributor, controlling at least two-thirds of the market according to some estimates. E-books can be viewed on black and white Kindle devices, but also in full color in the Kindle mobile application.

Three Internet law experts interviewed by Reuters said Amazon is unlikely to face legal consequences given First Amendment protections.

Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman said there is a law that broadly protects distributors of pornography and other potentially objectionable material, even if it ends up in the hands of minors. The comments were echoed by two other experts.

After Reuters reported to Apple about the availability of pornography in the Kindle app, Amazon earlier this month changed the app store’s age rating to 12 and over from 4 and older. The app is rated “teen” in Alphabet’s Google Play store.

Companies can, at their discretion, remove an app from the app store for violating the rules or for other reasons. And Apple and Alphabet have previously policed adult content in their app stores, including removing apps that display sexual content or ads.

No parental controls are available for Kindle Unlimited.

Apple’s app store guidelines “prohibit apps dedicated to depicting overtly sexual or pornographic material,” the company said in a statement. “App developers are responsible for moderating user-generated content on their platforms, and we work with developers to take immediate corrective action whenever we find issues.”

Amazon also said it would update the Kindle app without providing further details, noting that its terms require parental involvement for users under 18.

For $10 a month, Kindle Unlimited offers users a mix of self-published e-books and more traditional publishing house prices. The service has grown in popularity among customers who want to read series like The Hunger Games trilogy and other past bestsellers like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Queen’s Gambit.”

Kindle Unlimited has also spawned a cottage industry of self-published titles that cater to a wide range of interests, including text-based erotica, with several thousand titles in niche areas including dinosaurs and alien erotica. Pornographic content can be found on the Amazon site without a subscription and can be purchased for only $2.99.

Amazon generally allows authors to self-publish online without interference and responds to credible complaints about copyright, content or other issues by removing the book, according to three people who worked in the Kindle division. Amazon has software tools to help detect prohibited content before publication.

The Seattle tech company has tighter safeguards for its Amazon Kids+ service, the people said, but noted that it is designed and marketed to children ages 3 to 12, making Kindle Unlimited the only subscription service option for customers looking for book content aimed at 13-17 year olds.

As of Monday, adult material was still available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited via the iOS and Android apps.

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