EskomSePush app suspended from Google Play Store

According to a report by MyBroadband, EskomSePush, a well-known loadshedding app, has been removed from the Google Play Store. Herman Maritz, the co-founder of the app, tweeted a screenshot yesterday, 14 March, of an email from Google saying that the app has been removed. It's no longer available for download from the app store as well.

Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash

Maritz conveyed frustration about the vagueness of Google’s suspension email and indicated that the issue could be related to content generated by users, who are able to use chat functionality to discuss happenings around their neighbourhood.

“We have been getting a few rejections about User Generated Content. But we have everything in place according to policies: banned words, community reporting, moderators,” Maritz said.

Thanks @GooglePlayDev pic.twitter.com/0TMAbJR7wk
— Herman Maritz (@hermaritz) March 14, 2021

According to Google, while EskomSePush had included the ability to flag inappropriate users in the app, there was no way to report objectionable content and take action against this when needed.

Maritz pointed out, however, that EskomSePush actually does allow for reporting objectionable users and content.

EskomSePush has now submitted an updated version of the app to Google with the button’s name simply changed to 'Report' to clear any confusion.

Continue reading the full story here.

UPDATE: The app has been restored but will no longer provide Covid-19 updates.