Don’t think different

This week’s Dingy goes to Apple Corp. for its apparent determination to censor political satire from iPhones. The Nieman Foundation reports that Apple rejected the application of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore to develop his NewsToons app for the iPhone because it “ridicules public figures” and thus, Apple said, violates a provision of its developer license agreement forbidding apps that “in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has reportedly said in an e-mail to a customer the rejection was a “mistake,” and a Neiman follow-up report says Apple offered to reconsider the rejection.

Mistake, maybe, but one made repeatedly (cartoonist Tom Richmond’s app was similarly rejected, then accepted in a reconsideration). Which makes one wonder when Apple will figure out whether content is truly defamatory or protected under the First Amendment.

UPDATE: And swiftly approved, with Steve’s endorsement.