This white nationalist podcast violates Apple’s rules. So why can I still download it?

August 14, 2017

In the wake of violent clashes and an apparent act of domestic terrorism that left one woman dead at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend, tech platforms from GoDaddy to Google are rethinking their links to such extremists. But so far, Apple hasn’t made any moves to address the availability of far-right podcasts on iTunes.

Fash the Nation, a far-right, white nationalist podcast with ties to neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, spent much of its latest, two-hour episode recounting Saturday’s events in Charlottesville from the alt-right perspective—condemning the media, blaming Antifa and Black Lives Matter for the violence, and airing interviews with rally organizers. By and large, the show is more rhetorically restrained than sites like the Daily Stormer, but its hosts nonetheless find time to speak disparagingly of Jews and African-Americans, while also suggesting that Charlottesville police should have opened fire on anti-racism counterprotesters on Saturday. In the past, the show’s hosts have used racial slurs, discussed the alleged intellectual inferiority of African-Americans, and denigrated Jews, LGTBQ people, and other groups.

Of course, hate speech isn’t illegal in the U.S. and is protected by the First Amendment, but much of what is said on Fash the Nation–a show that was previously banned from SoundCloud–does appear to violate the content restrictions listed on Apple’s Podcasts Connect dashboard. Podcasts may not contain “content that could be construed as racist, misogynist, or homophobic,” according to Apple’s list of restrictions.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

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