It’s only Monday and already Google is having a pretty crappy week.
In addition to a lesbian couple discovering their address was listed as “Faggots Live Here” on Google Maps, a game which encourages users to violently murder gay men was uploaded to the Google Play app store over the weekend.
Google has removed the controversial game “Ass Hunter,” which encourages players to shoot gay men as they try to molest you, from its app store, but not before more than 10,000 people downloaded it within a 24 hour period.
The game’s description reads: “Popular game hunting on gays is now on android! Play and do not be gay!”
How about we take this to the next level?
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And the instructions read: “Legendary game, where you are hunter and your mission is to kill gays as much as you can or escape between them to the next level. Gays may be hidden in bushes and unexpectedly catch you. Remember! When they catch you they will do with you whatever they want.”
It carried content rating of “Everyone.”
Google’s app content policies ban “depictions of gratuitous violence” and “materials that threaten, harass or bully other users.” There is also a hate speech clause that forbids “advocating against groups of people based on their… sexual orientation/gender identity.”
Google does not review apps before they are uploaded, which is, presumably, how the game made it onto the store. It was up for one day before a Twitter campaign was launched urging users to flag the app to administrators.
Google has not released any comment on the matter, other than to say the game has been removed.
Related stories:
Lesbian Couple Shocked To Discover Their Address Changed To “Faggots Live Here” On Google Maps
Google Autocomplete Reveals Serious And Disturbing Anti-Gay Discrimination
Apple Removes Ex-Gay Mobile App, Google Served With Petition
Graham Gremore is a columnist and contributor for Queerty and Life of the Law. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Raquel Santiago
My organization Disabled Students Association @ SFSU sent an email and certified letter to both google apps as well as the maker. Games, content and issues like this will not be tolerated. While we applaud google apps efforts when they pulled the app, the issue is that it was able to get on there in the first place and promote violence against another person. Our policy of Erase Hate and me being a very active part of the community I love got full support on this from our members and executive board and we were livid. Hate for any person will not be tolerated and we will address it head on.
Stache99
It’s amazing that some closet case with anger issues gamer took the time to build it. I mean did they really think Google was going to let them. Still 10,000 downloads is pretty good in that amount of time.
Chris
Google has made no secret that its apps store is curated after the fact. Visit it and use its downloads at your own risk.
The result is stuff that is quite cheap (term used on purpose), often buggy and sometimes as offensive as this app is.
There HAS to be something in between Apple’s over-controlling environment and Google’s laissez faire.
IcarusD
Google doesn’t curate apps until after the fact? Aside from hateful apps like this one, it would seem prone to malicious apps as well that introduce viruses, commit identity theft, etc.
Saint Law
Anyone playing this game might as well have “Self-loathing Flamer!” tattooed on their forehead.
tardis
What a disgusting app. Filth. Just utter filth.
TheNewEnergyDude
Wow, I remeber this game…this had been around for over a decade.
It honestly didn’t bother me all that much at the time I saw it. I would just let my hunter bit move and let the naked guys to come out and fuck me.
omacdonald
@Stache99, I don’t think they just made it for gays only. I am guessing this bunch of troglodytes make this a template that you can substitute another minority in there real easy. So instead of Shoot the Gay, they can swap in another minority like “jew”, “chink”, “dyke”, “black”, or whatever they want to spew their hatred.
Shit like this really make me so pissed as to consider to start carrying. These haters think we’re a bunch of pushovers. I really think if we shoot back, they’d think twice about bashing or victimizing us.
Saint Law
@omacdonald: The guy doing the shooting does have the sour face of a closet case tho.
jason smeds
You have to wonder about the mentality of the 10,000 people who downloaded this app.
TomMc
@jason smeds: No, one need not: They’re mental 😉
jsmu
Google, which wholeheartedly supported total internet censorship in China. Making the world safe for fascism, bigotry, and greed.