Why This Cannabis Social Media Platform Was Just Removed From The App Store

Apple Inc. AAPL has deleted the Social Club app from its App Store after the platform became a hub for illegal content, according to TechCrunch. 

The app was intended as a social media platform sans restrictions on cannabis content. 

Advertising restrictions for cannabis companies have led cannabis entrepreneurs to figure out creative ways to shine a light on their products.

Since Facebook, Inc. FB and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL, the two main channels for branded content on the web, don’t allow companies to upload cannabis ads, marketing experts have developed various techniques to reach their audience.

Most of these techniques leverage the existing platforms to find workarounds for their restrictions. Yet in July, cannabis entrepreneur Joshua Otten and rapper Berner aimed to overcome these obstacles by releasing a new social media and content platform: Social Club TV.

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Otten, who’s the co-founder of cannabis lifestyle brand PRØHBTD, partnered with rapper and Cookies entrepreneur, Berner to develop a cannabis-centered mobile content app that allows companies to advertise without the restrictions of the main platforms, while permitting their users to upload any type of content, restriction-free.

Since the app offered no content moderation whatsoever, the platform became a hub for illegal activity, with regular postings featuring illegal drug and gun sales, child pornography and racist content, TechCrunch reported. 

Berner tweeted an acknowledgement of the start-up’s mistakes and promised to clean up the platform.

While Social Club is no longer available in Apple’s App Store, it can still be downloaded on Google Play as of Wednesday afternoon.