Google and Apple faced further pressure on their respective app store policies, being accused of unfairly restricting tens of millions of app developers working on Covid-19 (coronavirus) related services in complaints sent to six global competition regulators.
The complaints were made by intellectual property activist and app developer Florian Mueller. In a blog, he argued the tech giants’ rules covering Covid-19 apps were “unreasonably restrictive” and “totally inconsistent with the fact that both Apple and Google distribute products that definitely misinform users” regarding the virus and its symptoms.
Mueller sent formal grievances to competition authorities in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, the US, UK, and European Union after the companies demanded he amends a Covid-19 focused mobile game to be about viruses in general rather than coronavirus before allowing it onto their marketplaces.
“People who are looking for a Covid-themed game should be able to find it because it’s a legitimate game about viral infections.”
Criticism of the companies’ policies increased during 2020, with a high-profile example being a spat with Epic Games.
Apple also faces scrutiny from regulators in Europe, the US, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
