Google suspended federated chat app item for hosting abusive content

Google temporarily removed Element’s Android chat app from the Play Store this week for allegedly hosting abusive content. The decision is particularly puzzling given that Element is only a client for the Matrix federated chat protocol and not a service itself. Which means Element can (and does) moderate its own servers, but has no control over what happens on the network that users connect to.

“[J]“Because Google doesn’t control content on the web, Element doesn’t control Matrix content,” Element CEO Matthew Hodgson wrote in a blog post

posted Saturday.

Google started Element from its App Store on Friday without notice or notification and restored the app Saturday afternoon night Said Element. A saturday morning Pío, the company said it contacted Google and confirmed that the suspension “is due to abusive content somewhere in the matrix.” The developers of Element have sent a “detailed appeal” to Google to try to reverse the suspension, and it appears to have made a difference.

In a blog update, Hodgson said a Google executive contacted and apologized for Google’s “miscommunication”. The suspension was apparently related to “extremely abusive content” on the default home server of matrix.org, which Element runs on behalf of Matrix, which had already been quickly identified and addressed by Element’s moderators.

“We have explained how Element and Matrix work, established a channel of communication on any future moderation issues and hope the app will be restored shortly,” Hodgson wrote at the time.

A few hours later, he updated the blog to announce that the app was working again and thanked users for their patience.

“Thanks also to Google for their transparency and apologies and for the speedy resolution once we make contact,” he said.

But even though the app is now back on the Google Play Store, its abrupt demise has undoubtedly caused headaches for many businesses, universities and governments, including UK, US, France. and in Germany, which use Element. and the Matrix network. . Google previously suspended a third-party customer for content beyond its control, such as Android Police Remarks. In February 2020, Google banned the popular open source client Reddit Slide for nearly two weeks because a screenshot in the app’s store listing contained the text “ ISIS ” as it was displayed in a linked Reddit post. to the news.

Google did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. The incident with Element comes after the crackdown by Google and Apple Speakthe application following the attack on the Capitol building on January 6 for hosting violent content.

With that In mind, it makes sense that Google has issues with moderation of content and is a little happy these days. And while this approach may be justified in some cases, let’s remember that not all apps are bad and some actually do their best to tackle hateful and violent content.