Google is at it again!
The "Make me Asain" and "Make me Indian"apps on the Google Play Store overlay racist stereotypes onto people's photos by adding various stereotypical features to someones face such as; a rice hat, a headband with feathers, or slanted eyes and so on.
Google has tried to defend itself in this matter by stating they are not responsible for the content of apps because Android is an open source. Google has also refused to remove the apps from its Google Play store. They said the apps do not violate the company’s policies of Google’s hate-speech policy for developers because the apps are not “deliberately” offensive, therefore they do not constitute a violation.
However, the fact is that Google Play is not actually an open source. It is a branded store from which Google receives a profit and has removed other racist app's, such as a Nazi app in August of 2010. In addition to this and previous defenses, it is offensive as well.
People are so offended in fact that they are peitioning over it. Peter Chin, a pastor in Washington, D.C., started a petition on Change.org to have the app removed, collected 8,452 signatures. Another online campaign, 18 Million Rising, named after the number of Asian Americans in the United States, called the app's depictions of Asians and Native Americans racist and offensive. In addition to this, the group also started a Twitter campaign with a hashtag, #makemeracist, aimed at getting Google to remove the apps.
All of this effort and did not go in vain and Google has finally removed the app "Make Me Asian" along with othe similar apps from the same creator from its Google Play store after weeks of protest from groups that said the game was racist.