[HN Gopher] Apps like Grok are banned under Google rules-why is ...
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Apps like Grok are banned under Google rules-why is it still in the
Play Store?
Author : pauljonas
Score : 36 points
Date : 2026-01-12 19:50 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
| dmitrygr wrote:
| Same reason that apple did not ban Facebook despite repeated
| workarounds of user privacy measures. Too-big-to-fail.
| Y-bar wrote:
| Likely so.
|
| But then again, Apple banned Verizon's app (Tumblr) in 2018
| when CSAM was discovered on the platform and not removed fast
| enough.
| dmitrygr wrote:
| Tumblr was never as big as FB or Twitter are
| conartist6 wrote:
| Ohhhhh ok if you're big you can do whatever and morals
| don't apply. I get it now!
| Anonbrit wrote:
| "If you've enough users that banning you would affect our
| bottom like negatively..."
| jayturley wrote:
| Unironically, this is exactly the state of the world in
| 2026
| Y-bar wrote:
| The difference is less pronounced than you think.
|
| In 2018 Tumblr had more users (over 60M monthly) than Grok
| today (30M monthly). And Verizon, the owner, is/was larger
| than Grok's owner: xAI.
| jjtheblunt wrote:
| it's possible the rules are imminently going to be updated,
| causing an explanation, i thought.
| postalrat wrote:
| Because things change
| conartist6 wrote:
| I love that people are downvoting and reporting me for saying
| these companies hate women, when they're only _acting_ like they
| hate women.
|
| I would say "don't shoot the messenger," but no, I take that
| back. Get mad at me. Get furious at me! Then ask yourself "who ya
| really mad at," cause I guarantee you it isn't me.
| conartist6 wrote:
| Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you had a daughter. The
| boys at school are just being boys, amirite, and they generate
| nudes of your daughter and share them. Your daughter of course is
| unaware of this, but a week later the pictures have spread to a
| wide enough circle that someone shows the pictures to her. She's
| humiliated and emotionally _devestated_. She feels like people
| have been a little _weird_ around her all week. A particular
| hallway taunt that seemed random suddenly makes awful sense. They
| 've all been looking at nudes of her! She now feels like nobody
| will ever look at her the same way again. She's afraid to go to
| school now. She's clearly depressed, her usual faith in humanity
| suddenly absent. Over and over and over she wonders to herself
| "what did I do wrong?"
|
| But she didn't do anything wrong except exist. She asks you why
| there's no consequences for anyone involved. Why are there more
| and more girls like her every day and the adults act like it's
| fine? You are at a loss for words.
|
| Because no, if you're the victim, it's not fucking fine. There's
| nothing fine about wrecking her life being a product for sale to
| make Elon even richer.
| xracy wrote:
| I'm pretty sure this got posted before (maybe for apple, or
| slightly different headline), and flagged. I can't imagine why
| this would get flagged, but I think there's a really solid
| question here. It feels pretty fair to enforce the rules to
| ensure that this behavior is not allowed on platforms.
| bitshiftfaced wrote:
| Are people still able to do the things this article says you
| can do with Grok? I know that was the headline several days
| ago. I haven't really followed this story too closely to know.
| conartist6 wrote:
| As I understand it yes, but whereas before you could do it
| for free now you have to upgrade to pro or whatever. Someone
| can correct me if I'm wrong.
| xracy wrote:
| I think whether or not you can still actively do this, there
| should likely be a consequence for the fact that you could
| _ever_ do this. And pulling from the store for a proportional
| amount of time seems like a fair way to enforce that.
|
| I don't think this explains why you would pull the article.
| The fact that it was ever correct is sufficient even if it's
| not currently point in time correct.
| bitshiftfaced wrote:
| The article is dated today. If Grok's policy changed
| already, then the article's author is missing something
| important.
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| Previously:
|
| _Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards_
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46560359
|
| _'Fuck you, make me' without saying the words_
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46577869
| bediger4000 wrote:
| I thought it was a combination of Musk suing companies that
| stopped advertising on Twitter based on anti-trust law, and Musk
| being on the good side of Trump.
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