Remove Robinhood off of Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Remove Robinhood off of Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
The Issue
Dear Tim Cook of Apple and Larry Page of Google,
Today Robinhood have seemingly gone rogue by violating various app policies within their own app. This in any normal circumstance would have disbarred such apps from your platform within minutes. But today apps that go against the core value of your organization, developer guidelines, and application policies are still allowed on your store. These apps I want to bring to your attention are Robinhood. The institution of our country today is at risk, people are being censored, freedom of speech is being revoked. We are not in a communist country or under operation at all. Many of these tactics that are employed by these apps mentioned above are crimes at international levels. Your platform must honor your organization's policies and immediately remove these applications.
This is not a one-time occurrence, Robinhood out of all other apps has committed violations of your policies multiple times and they do it on purpose and knowingly. At times they tend to throttle and manipulate the market in their favor and the hedge funds that are buying from Robinhood. Something must be done and it must be done now. We cannot let deceptive practices which are illegal in the United States overstay their welcome. They have stated that their actions were due to high volatility events, but in actuality they also allow crypto trading which is thousands of times more volatile. Tesla used to be as volatile and they did not do the same actions and behaviors that they are doing.
The paragon of a brokerage platform is to enable its users to participate in free-market capitalism, and more specifically for US customers, to participate in this type of economy where it flourishes more than anywhere else in the world. Today and in the past few days, online forum sentiment for disgust and feeling of betrayal has shown to be at a local, if not an all-time high, when it comes to platforms like Robinhood. These issues have stemmed partially from (apparently) poor software engineering practices, and illegal activities at these companies that have led to financial devastation due to pathetically inaccurate, slow, or otherwise wrong position trades. These types of production level errors have severe financial implications that can ruin a user’s livelihood and furthermore have gone on too long without any sign of these brokerages fixing them in a major way. One example of this in Robinhood (perhaps the worst broker available) that I have documented today is a faulty stop loss order in which I opted to sell SNDL at $1.29 and instead Robinhood sold it at $1.13, cheating me out of over a thousand USD. By these reasons alone, it is already justified to remove these dangerous apps from the platform.
Even more egregious, as awful as the technical grievances highlighted above are, are the intentional trading halts which stop users from engaging with certain securities in the free market while their competitors on other platforms are allowed to trade freely. These halts have been seemingly arbitrary in their execution and in the past few days have been applied to tickers such as GME, NOK, SNDL, and AMC to name a few. This limits the user’s ability to profit after selling at a certain price and wanting to buy at a lower price. Often the user is cheated out of profit when the user plans to buy due to the trading halt or delisting of the security imposed by the broker, but can only watch the price increase as a result of others trading on platforms that actually respect the users and will allow them to enrich themselves. It makes us all wonder, why are they doing this? Are they paid out by wall-street short sellers who cannot win without cheating (who cannot handle the fact that common men and women with $1000 portfolios are shaking up the market)? One might say that Robinhood is known to rob the poor and give to the rich by selling its users short of the actual price of the stock that it lists. This is a deceptive trade practice and manipulative behavior which is also punishable by law and goes against many organizations policies.
Further direct misbehavior of Robinhood are outlined within the policies of your platforms outlined below. Please do your part and honor and stand behind your own organization’s, developers’, and applications’ policies. To me they have voided the developer policies and guidelines, but to you, they have humiliated and voided your core organization's values and beliefs. This goes against what you believe in at multiple levels. Beyond that, what Robinhood has done violates many of the federal level laws in United States of America.
Apple Policies:
Customer trust is the cornerstone of the App Store’s success. Apps should never prey on users or attempt to rip-off customers, trick them into making unwanted purchases, force them to share unnecessary data, raise prices in a tricky manner, charge for features or content that are not delivered, or engage in any other manipulative practices within or outside of the app.
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/
1.1 Objectionable Content
Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy. Examples of such content include:
1.1.1 Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or harm a targeted individual or group. Professional political satirists and humorists are generally exempt from this requirement.
3.2 Other Business Model Issues
3.2.2 Unacceptable
(v) Arbitrarily restricting who may use the app, such as by location or carrier.
(vii) Artificially manipulating a user’s visibility, status, or rank on other services unless permitted by that service’s Terms and Conditions.
5.6 Developer Code of Conduct
Please treat everyone with respect, whether in your responses to App Store reviews, customer support requests, or when communicating with Apple, including your responses in Resolution Center. Do not engage in harassment of any kind, discriminatory practices, intimidation, bullying, and don’t encourage others to engage in any of the above.
Customer trust is the cornerstone of the App Store’s success. Apps should never prey on users or attempt to rip-off customers, trick them into making unwanted purchases, force them to share unnecessary data, raise prices in a tricky manner, charge for features or content that are not delivered, or engage in any other manipulative practices within or outside of the app.
Google Policies:
Misrepresentation
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9888077
We do not allow apps or developer accounts that:
that engage in coordinated activity to mislead users. This includes, but isn’t limited to, apps or developer accounts that misrepresent or conceal their country of origin and that direct content at users in another country.
coordinate with other apps, sites, developers, or other accounts to conceal or misrepresent developer or app identity or other material details, where app content relates to politics, social issues or matters of public concern.
Deceptive Behavior
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9888077
We don't allow apps that attempt to deceive users or enable dishonest behavior including but not limited to apps which are determined to be functionally impossible. Apps must provide an accurate disclosure, description and images/video of their functionality in all parts of the metadata. Apps must not attempt to mimic functionality or warnings from the operating system or other apps. Any changes to device settings must be made with the user's knowledge and consent and be reversible by the user.
US Government Law:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/7/9
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title7/USCODE-2011-title7-chap1-sec9
(1)Prohibition against manipulation
It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, to use or employ, or attempt to use or employ, in connection with any swap, or a contract of sale of any commodity in interstate commerce, or for future delivery on or subject to the rules of any registered entity, any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance, in contravention of such rules and regulations as the Commission shall promulgate by not later than 1 year after July 21, 2010, provided no rule or regulation promulgated by the Commission shall require any person to disclose to another person nonpublic information that may be material to the market price, rate, or level of the commodity transaction, except as necessary to make any statement made to the other person in or in connection with the transaction not misleading in any material respect.
(A)Special provision for manipulation by false reporting
Unlawful manipulation for purposes of this paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, delivering, or causing to be delivered for transmission through the mails or interstate commerce, by any means of communication whatsoever, a false or misleading or inaccurate report concerning crop or market information or conditions that affect or tend to affect the price of any commodity in interstate commerce, knowing, or acting in reckless disregard of the fact that such report is false, misleading or inaccurate.
Federal law:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/ftca.pdf
Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) (15 USC §45) prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” This prohibition applies to all persons engaged in commerce, including banks. ... The legal standards for unfairness and deception are independent of each other.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/robinhood-interactive-brokers-restrict-trading-in-gamestop-s.html
https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://twitter.com/mcuban?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/business/gamestop-td-ameritrade-robinhood.html
The Issue
Dear Tim Cook of Apple and Larry Page of Google,
Today Robinhood have seemingly gone rogue by violating various app policies within their own app. This in any normal circumstance would have disbarred such apps from your platform within minutes. But today apps that go against the core value of your organization, developer guidelines, and application policies are still allowed on your store. These apps I want to bring to your attention are Robinhood. The institution of our country today is at risk, people are being censored, freedom of speech is being revoked. We are not in a communist country or under operation at all. Many of these tactics that are employed by these apps mentioned above are crimes at international levels. Your platform must honor your organization's policies and immediately remove these applications.
This is not a one-time occurrence, Robinhood out of all other apps has committed violations of your policies multiple times and they do it on purpose and knowingly. At times they tend to throttle and manipulate the market in their favor and the hedge funds that are buying from Robinhood. Something must be done and it must be done now. We cannot let deceptive practices which are illegal in the United States overstay their welcome. They have stated that their actions were due to high volatility events, but in actuality they also allow crypto trading which is thousands of times more volatile. Tesla used to be as volatile and they did not do the same actions and behaviors that they are doing.
The paragon of a brokerage platform is to enable its users to participate in free-market capitalism, and more specifically for US customers, to participate in this type of economy where it flourishes more than anywhere else in the world. Today and in the past few days, online forum sentiment for disgust and feeling of betrayal has shown to be at a local, if not an all-time high, when it comes to platforms like Robinhood. These issues have stemmed partially from (apparently) poor software engineering practices, and illegal activities at these companies that have led to financial devastation due to pathetically inaccurate, slow, or otherwise wrong position trades. These types of production level errors have severe financial implications that can ruin a user’s livelihood and furthermore have gone on too long without any sign of these brokerages fixing them in a major way. One example of this in Robinhood (perhaps the worst broker available) that I have documented today is a faulty stop loss order in which I opted to sell SNDL at $1.29 and instead Robinhood sold it at $1.13, cheating me out of over a thousand USD. By these reasons alone, it is already justified to remove these dangerous apps from the platform.
Even more egregious, as awful as the technical grievances highlighted above are, are the intentional trading halts which stop users from engaging with certain securities in the free market while their competitors on other platforms are allowed to trade freely. These halts have been seemingly arbitrary in their execution and in the past few days have been applied to tickers such as GME, NOK, SNDL, and AMC to name a few. This limits the user’s ability to profit after selling at a certain price and wanting to buy at a lower price. Often the user is cheated out of profit when the user plans to buy due to the trading halt or delisting of the security imposed by the broker, but can only watch the price increase as a result of others trading on platforms that actually respect the users and will allow them to enrich themselves. It makes us all wonder, why are they doing this? Are they paid out by wall-street short sellers who cannot win without cheating (who cannot handle the fact that common men and women with $1000 portfolios are shaking up the market)? One might say that Robinhood is known to rob the poor and give to the rich by selling its users short of the actual price of the stock that it lists. This is a deceptive trade practice and manipulative behavior which is also punishable by law and goes against many organizations policies.
Further direct misbehavior of Robinhood are outlined within the policies of your platforms outlined below. Please do your part and honor and stand behind your own organization’s, developers’, and applications’ policies. To me they have voided the developer policies and guidelines, but to you, they have humiliated and voided your core organization's values and beliefs. This goes against what you believe in at multiple levels. Beyond that, what Robinhood has done violates many of the federal level laws in United States of America.
Apple Policies:
Customer trust is the cornerstone of the App Store’s success. Apps should never prey on users or attempt to rip-off customers, trick them into making unwanted purchases, force them to share unnecessary data, raise prices in a tricky manner, charge for features or content that are not delivered, or engage in any other manipulative practices within or outside of the app.
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/
1.1 Objectionable Content
Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy. Examples of such content include:
1.1.1 Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or harm a targeted individual or group. Professional political satirists and humorists are generally exempt from this requirement.
3.2 Other Business Model Issues
3.2.2 Unacceptable
(v) Arbitrarily restricting who may use the app, such as by location or carrier.
(vii) Artificially manipulating a user’s visibility, status, or rank on other services unless permitted by that service’s Terms and Conditions.
5.6 Developer Code of Conduct
Please treat everyone with respect, whether in your responses to App Store reviews, customer support requests, or when communicating with Apple, including your responses in Resolution Center. Do not engage in harassment of any kind, discriminatory practices, intimidation, bullying, and don’t encourage others to engage in any of the above.
Customer trust is the cornerstone of the App Store’s success. Apps should never prey on users or attempt to rip-off customers, trick them into making unwanted purchases, force them to share unnecessary data, raise prices in a tricky manner, charge for features or content that are not delivered, or engage in any other manipulative practices within or outside of the app.
Google Policies:
Misrepresentation
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9888077
We do not allow apps or developer accounts that:
that engage in coordinated activity to mislead users. This includes, but isn’t limited to, apps or developer accounts that misrepresent or conceal their country of origin and that direct content at users in another country.
coordinate with other apps, sites, developers, or other accounts to conceal or misrepresent developer or app identity or other material details, where app content relates to politics, social issues or matters of public concern.
Deceptive Behavior
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9888077
We don't allow apps that attempt to deceive users or enable dishonest behavior including but not limited to apps which are determined to be functionally impossible. Apps must provide an accurate disclosure, description and images/video of their functionality in all parts of the metadata. Apps must not attempt to mimic functionality or warnings from the operating system or other apps. Any changes to device settings must be made with the user's knowledge and consent and be reversible by the user.
US Government Law:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/7/9
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title7/USCODE-2011-title7-chap1-sec9
(1)Prohibition against manipulation
It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, to use or employ, or attempt to use or employ, in connection with any swap, or a contract of sale of any commodity in interstate commerce, or for future delivery on or subject to the rules of any registered entity, any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance, in contravention of such rules and regulations as the Commission shall promulgate by not later than 1 year after July 21, 2010, provided no rule or regulation promulgated by the Commission shall require any person to disclose to another person nonpublic information that may be material to the market price, rate, or level of the commodity transaction, except as necessary to make any statement made to the other person in or in connection with the transaction not misleading in any material respect.
(A)Special provision for manipulation by false reporting
Unlawful manipulation for purposes of this paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, delivering, or causing to be delivered for transmission through the mails or interstate commerce, by any means of communication whatsoever, a false or misleading or inaccurate report concerning crop or market information or conditions that affect or tend to affect the price of any commodity in interstate commerce, knowing, or acting in reckless disregard of the fact that such report is false, misleading or inaccurate.
Federal law:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/ftca.pdf
Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) (15 USC §45) prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” This prohibition applies to all persons engaged in commerce, including banks. ... The legal standards for unfairness and deception are independent of each other.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/robinhood-interactive-brokers-restrict-trading-in-gamestop-s.html
https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://twitter.com/mcuban?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/business/gamestop-td-ameritrade-robinhood.html
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Petition created on January 28, 2021