Debate alert: 'Jewish' search term brings up Nazi content on Android Market

Apple has frequently come under fire for the way in which it polices the App Store, particularly where it has rejected or removed an app that ridicules a public figure. Want to throw a shoe at George W. Bush? Tough, you can't. Want to see a cartoon Barack Obama on a trampoline? Fat chance.

Want to see a still from a movie that sends up Hitler? Absolutely not. Hitler is a public figure, and he deserves protection - or so it seemed last year when Apple banned a Someecards application because it contained stills from the film Inglourious Basterds. Most people, it needs hardly be said, are happy to see Hitler ridiculed.

While Apple's choice of what to censor was unfortunate in that case, Apple stands by its policy of keeping the App Store clean, with Steve Jobs going so far as to invite those who want porn on their phones to get an Android handset.

Now the Android Market is in the spotlight thanks to an article by Engadget, prompted by a tweet by Michael Gartenberg, drawing attention to the fact that using the search term 'Jewish' on Google's app store brings up "a number of Nazi and Hitler themes".

The search result could scarcely be more offensive.

Google created controversy last year for refusing to remove a racist image of Michelle Obama from its image search results. Instead, it posted an explanation: "The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well as the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results."

Presumably something like the same policy applies to the Market.

The issue of censorship isn't straightforward, of course. Would you rather live without it and put up with the consequences, or with it knowing that somebody else has decided what you're allowed to consume?

And, censorship debate aside, should Google be making 30 per cent on Nazi apps?

Answers below.