Conversation

Notices

1. GeniusMusing (geniusmusing@nu.federati.net)'s status on Saturday, 30-Jan-2021 15:53:43 EST GeniusMusing
   Element suspended on Google Play Store
   https://element.io/blog/element-on-google-play-store/
   
   >Hi all,
   >
   >At 2021-01-29 at 21:35 UTC Google suspended Element from the Play Store without warning or notification. We submitted an appeal asking for clarification at 23:18, and at 05:31 received a generic update from the Google Play Policy team citing that the app has been removed due to content which contravenes their terms of use, and asking us to “make the necessary changes to [our] app” and “upload a new app using a new package name and a new app name”.
   >
   >As of 11:44 UTC we’ve submitted a detailed appeal to reiterate that Element is a generic chat app for connecting to the global Matrix communication network, just as Chrome is a generic web browser for connecting to the Web - and just as Google does not control the content on the Web, Element does not control the content on Matrix.
   >
   >We have also explained that the Matrix servers that we do run as Element (including the default Matrix.org homeserver, which we run on behalf of The Matrix.org Foundation) have strict Terms of Use which we actively enforce. We abhor abuse, and Element is not an app that caters to abusive content.
   
   snip
   
   >We’re currently waiting for an update to Google and will keep this blog post updated as the situation develops. We look forward to resolving the problem and getting the app back in the store shortly.
   >
   >-- The Element Team
   >
   >Update: reminder that in the interim you can download a (slightly outdated) version of Element Android from F-Droid at https://f-droid.org/en/packages/im.vector.app. We're also looking into running our own F-Droid repository going forwards so the most recent build is always available there.
   1. lnxw48a1 (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Saturday, 30-Jan-2021 16:34:32 EST lnxw48a1

      in reply to
      @geniusmusing Yeah. :-(
      
      I think the #blockwars folks may have indirectly caused this. There are people who file complaints against client apps that don’t build in blocklists against specific servers whose moderation policies they dislike.
      
      I think that #Matrix / #Element competes with one or more Google-owned chat-type services. Since they gatekeep the overwhelming majority of Android users’ software installation, a good antitrust lawyer would be helpful. I’ll bet that faxing a bunch of documents to #USDOJ and various states would suddenly cause Google to decide that Element doesn’t violate their policies anyway.
      
      (Someone said it was “Boomers at Google that don’t understand federation”, but first of all, I’m certain that most GOOG employees are far younger than you and I, and secondly, I’m sure someone at Google understands federation, though they obviously dislike not being in control. Google Talk was federated with #XMPP, while Google Plus was basically #Diaspora with federation stripped out.)
   2. lnxw48a1 (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Saturday, 30-Jan-2021 21:31:26 EST lnxw48a1

      in reply to
      According to @clacke, #Element is back. https://libranet.de/display/0b6b25a8-1160-1615-cac7-aa0667972778 https://element.io/blog/element-on-google-play-store/
      1. clacke: inhibited exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛 (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 30-Jan-2021 21:40:14 EST clacke: inhibited exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛

         in reply to
         @Nobody [LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1)] Yes, it's an update to the same blog post.
         
         The cause for dropping the app was abusive content on the matrix.org flagship server itself, and it had already been moderated out of existence before Google told Element about it.
         
         The app was suspended for 27 hours for no good reason at all, for no conspiratorial reason at all, and channels have been established for preventing it from happening again.