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Apple has withdrawn an app created by Andrew Tate after accusations that it encouraged misogyny and could be an illegal pyramid scheme.
Tate created the app, Real World Portal, after the closure of his “Hustler’s University”, which was an online academy for his fans, promising to assist them in making thousands of pounds while helping Tate’s videos on social media, which have been described as misogynistic, to go viral.
McCue Jury & Partners, the firm representing four British women who have accused Tate of sexual and physical assault, claimed that the app deliberately targets young men and encourages misogyny, including members of the app sharing techniques on how to control and exploit women. The firm has also claimed that there is evidence to suggest that the app is an illegal pyramid scheme, with members being charged $49.99 a month to join.
Last week, the Real World Portal app was removed from Google’s Play store after claims that it was an illegal pyramid scheme and encouraged misogyny.
On Friday night Apple also said it had removed it from its app store. It followed a letter from the legal firm asking Apple to consider whether the app was in line with its policies and whether the company was exposing itself to any corporate liability in hosting it on its platform.
Part of the letter, dated 15 September, said: “We are writing because our clients are extremely concerned that you are hosting Tate’s Real World Portal (RWP) mobile application on your Apple Store … In continuing to host RWP, not only is Apple potentially indirectly financing Tate’s alleged criminal activities but is aiding the spread of his misogynistic teachings.”
The firm had claimed that Apple was directly profiting from hosting the app, with the company taking 30% in royalties from apps and in-app purchases.
Four women in their late 20s and early 30s are pursuing civil proceedings against Tate over alleged offences between 2013 and 2016 while he was still living in the UK.
Before the news that Apple had withdrawn the app, Matt Jury, the lawyer representing the women, said: “Andrew and [his brother] Tristan Tate manipulate their significant online following to promote subscriptions to Real World Portal. From there, the benefits to users are entirely reliant upon new subscribers joining the platform.
“There is also significant evidence that this scheme is directly targeting boys and teenagers and, in my view, is nothing more than an exploitative app which has no place on Apple’s platform.”
Tate is awaiting trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking. He and Tristan were charged in June, along with two Romanian female suspects, with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The suspects have denied the allegations.
A spokesperson for Andrew Tate said: “We unequivocally deny the allegations that ‘The Real World’ app operates as a pyramid scheme or perpetuates harmful techniques aimed at exploiting any individuals, particularly women. The user community, which includes a significant number of women within the 200,000-strong user base, can attest to the positive impact and educational value the app provides.
“Accusations suggesting otherwise are unfounded, lacking credible evidence, and seem to be part of a targeted campaign against Andrew Tate, a known supporter and promoter of the platform. ‘The Real World’ maintains a commitment to complete transparency, ensuring compliance with all legal and ethical standards. We invite sceptics to examine the app independently and affirm that it operates in accordance with legal and moral requirements.
“The platform is designed as an educational tool that fosters healthy habit formation, financial literacy, and self-discipline, with thousands of lives positively impacted. The decision by Google Play is being appealed.”
Sounds like these guys should be looking at progressive web apps, if their being de-platformed from the app stores, PWAs are the only way to go. App stores cannot block progressive web apps, unless they remove the browser from the phone. So if you have a web browser you can use a PWA
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_web_app
Not to mention it saves on development time, you just build a good progressive web app and it works on all platforms.
For people who don’t have experience with progressive web apps, Voyager the Lemmy client is a progressive web app. You visit it in a browser, and you can install the app locally from the browser itself. So the app runs in the browser locally. They’re pretty cool.
Progressive web apps are great, i wish more people use it. 👍
I’m really impressed with crypt.ee and voyager. PWAs really should be the future.
I love the concept of crypt.ee, I just don’t have enough usage to justify the cost. I’m trying out voyager now though! Any other recommendations?
I already listed the two PWAs I use daily.
I don’t use it personally, but I’m very impressed with Starbucks. They made their app a PWA!
https://app.starbucks.com/
Tinder, Spotify, Uber, telegram, etc…
PWAs are kind of like a silent revolution, they’re sneaking in, they’re coming! But it’s mostly companies that either believe in open software, have in app purchases and want to save the 30% store cut, or are trying to tap into emerging markets that don’t have phones that can support the full fat app so the faster PWA makes sense.
Just a clear up a lot of the comments below, I will not respond to any Godwin bait. I will respond to every comment I believe is in good faith.