Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc voiced concerns with Amazon after discovering that children can access sexually explicit information via the popular Kindle app.
Two families informed Reuters that their pre-teen boys obtained the obscene content using Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited e-book membership service and viewed the full-colour photos on the Kindle iPhone app.
The warnings were prompted by inquiries posed by Reuters to officials at the three businesses concerning users’ ability to access and watch online volumes of naked women via the Kindle app.
The corporations stated that their complaints were about policy infractions, but they did not elaborate on how their rules were broken or on their warnings to Amazon.
The parents, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters that they were first drawn to the $10-per-month programme because it provided access to age-appropriate book series that would otherwise be costly to acquire and were not accessible on Amazon’s Kids+ subscription service.
“We’re committed to providing a safe shopping and reading experience for our customers and their families and we take matters like this seriously,” Amazon told Reuters in a statement.
“We are reviewing all of the available information and are taking action brd on our findings.”
Apple stated in reference to Amazon, “We’ve shared these concerns with the developer and are working with them to ensure their app is compliant with our guidelines.”
According to Google, “Google Play does not allow apps that contain or promote sexual content and we’ve been in contact with the developer on this issue.”
The pornographic content at issue is mostly self-published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing division.
Authors can self-publish their works on Amazon almost instantly and designate the content as available for the Kindle Unlimited service.
For $10 per month, Kindle Unlimited provides users with a mix of self-published e-books and more traditional fare from publishing houses.
According to the sources, Amazon has stricter guidelines for its Amazon Kids+ programme, which is created and promoted for children aged 3 to 12, leaving Kindle Unlimited as the only subscription service choice for users looking for book content aimed for 13 to 17-year-olds.
Adult publications were still available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited via the iOS and Android applications as of Monday.
