Apple’s iBooks, while a useful app in many ways, is guilty of promulgating erotic literature that supports rape myths and racist sexual stereotypes. Please stop facilitating sexual exploitation and remove the erotic literature on iBooks! Apple claims to be “committed to treating everyone in our business and supply chain with the dignity and respect they deserve. …We raise the bar every year to improve conditions and protect human rights. We do this because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s required by law.” But Apple iBooks is selling violent novels that portray sexual and domestic abuse as normal or even expected. Normalizing abuse in stories may seem harmless, but in reality, stories, visual and written, affect our brain with natural chemicals we experience in everyday life. In today's #MeToo culture, it is therefore particularly alarming when corporations profit off of, and promote, themes of sexual coercion or abuse. Maybe of these books focus on harmful racial sexual stereotypes, including the enslavement of Black or Asian women, many are hinged on sexually violent themes including forced sex (AKA rape), and others fetishize themes of underage girls through stories of "babysitters" or incest themes. iBooks often autopopulated suggested search terms with sexually graphic content, even for innocent partial searched like “dad” or “or…” or “se…” And so many people are being accidentally exposed to this content. A lot of erotic content on iBooks isn’t even labeled under the title of “erotica” but is deceptively located under the ambiguous section title “What’s Hot.” This section heading suggests to the Apple user that these books may be the most popular, and, believing that the topic is “safe,” they may read, or worse, allow their children to read, selections without suspecting the content may be harmful. Apple needs to stop facilitating sexual exploitation, and it must remove the erotica literature on iBooks!

Apple’s iBooks, while a useful app in many ways, is guilty of promulgating erotic literature that supports rape myths and racist sexual stereotypes. Please stop facilitating sexual exploitation and remove the erotic literature on iBooks! Apple claims to be “committed to treating everyone in our business and supply chain with the dignity and respect they deserve. …We raise the bar every year to improve conditions and protect human rights. We do this because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s required by law.” But Apple iBooks is selling violent novels that portray sexual and domestic abuse as normal or even expected. Normalizing abuse in stories may seem harmless, but in reality, stories, visual and written, affect our brain with natural chemicals we experience in everyday life. In today's #MeToo culture, it is therefore particularly alarming when corporations profit off of, and promote, themes of sexual coercion or abuse. Maybe of these books focus on harmful racial sexual stereotypes, including the enslavement of Black or Asian women, many are hinged on sexually violent themes including forced sex (AKA rape), and others fetishize themes of underage girls through stories of "babysitters" or incest themes. iBooks often autopopulated suggested search terms with sexually graphic content, even for innocent partial searched like “dad” or “or…” or “se…” And so many people are being accidentally exposed to this content. A lot of erotic content on iBooks isn’t even labeled under the title of “erotica” but is deceptively located under the ambiguous section title “What’s Hot.” This section heading suggests to the Apple user that these books may be the most popular, and, believing that the topic is “safe,” they may read, or worse, allow their children to read, selections without suspecting the content may be harmful. Apple needs to stop facilitating sexual exploitation, and it must remove the erotica literature on iBooks!

Apple’s iBooks, while a useful app in many ways, is guilty of promulgating erotic literature that supports rape myths and racist sexual stereotypes. Please stop facilitating sexual exploitation and remove the erotic literature on iBooks! Apple claims to be “committed to treating everyone in our business and supply chain with the dignity and respect they deserve. …We raise the bar every year to improve conditions and protect human rights. We do this because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s required by law.” But Apple iBooks is selling violent novels that portray sexual and domestic abuse as normal or even expected. Normalizing abuse in stories may seem harmless, but in reality, stories, visual and written, affect our brain with natural chemicals we experience in everyday life. In today's #MeToo culture, it is therefore particularly alarming when corporations profit off of, and promote, themes of sexual coercion or abuse. Maybe of these books focus on harmful racial sexual stereotypes, including the enslavement of Black or Asian women, many are hinged on sexually violent themes including forced sex (AKA rape), and others fetishize themes of underage girls through stories of "babysitters" or incest themes. iBooks often autopopulated suggested search terms with sexually graphic content, even for innocent partial searched like “dad” or “or…” or “se…” And so many people are being accidentally exposed to this content. A lot of erotic content on iBooks isn’t even labeled under the title of “erotica” but is deceptively located under the ambiguous section title “What’s Hot.” This section heading suggests to the Apple user that these books may be the most popular, and, believing that the topic is “safe,” they may read, or worse, allow their children to read, selections without suspecting the content may be harmful. Apple needs to stop facilitating sexual exploitation, and it must remove the erotica literature on iBooks! Connect with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation for more information about ways to improve.