Technology1 min read

Apple has a secret list of banned autocomplete phrases including ‘dictator Trump’ and ‘covid is a hoax’

By · Via The Verge · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The undisclosed blocklist spans more than 100,000 entries across multiple languages, targeting slurs, sexual references, and drug mentions alongside politically sensitive rhetoric. Beyond political labels, innocuous phrases such as "Santa isn't real" and "iMessage isn't working" are also suppressed by the system. The database exhibits peculiar inconsistencies, allowing phrases like "bad boy" while restricting "bad girl." Apple clarified that the mechanism merely filters keyboard suggestions and does not prohibit users from manually typing blocked phrases.

Key points

  • Apple suppresses specific political phrases and public commentary from its automated pred…: Apple suppresses specific political phrases and public commentary from its automated predictive text suggestions.
  • The system includes arbitrary discrepancies that restrict phrases like "bad girl" while p…: The system includes arbitrary discrepancies that restrict phrases like "bad girl" while permitting phrases like "bad boy."
  • Users retain the ability to override the system by manually typing out any restricted ter…: Users retain the ability to override the system by manually typing out any restricted term letter by letter.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A researcher found over 100,000 words and phrases in “every major language” that are blocked from autocomplete and swipe-type in iOS, Reuters reports. The researcher, Derik Kauffman, says you can still type the words on the blocklist one letter at a time. But they won’t pop up as predictive text suggestions and iOS’s keyboard may automatically alter them when swipe-typing, like changing “left wing conspiracy” to “left wrong conspiracy.”

Apple has a secret list of banned autocomplete phrases including ‘dictator Trump’ and ‘covid is a hoax’

iOS’s keyboard won’t suggest or swipe-type a lengthy list of insults and political phrases.

iOS’s keyboard won’t suggest or swipe-type a lengthy list of insults and political phrases.

Kauffman posted the full list online, including the individual lists for different languages.

Most of the words and phrases on the list are offensive, slurs, or related to topics like sex and drugs. But it also contains political phrases like “illegal immigrant,” “dictator Trump,” “sleepy Joe,” “covid was a hoax,” and “left wing conspiracy” as well as some less controversial phrases like “Santa isn’t real” and…

Technology