Apple’s nuking of iPhone 4 discussions is business as usual

By now, you have undoubtedly heard that Consumer Reports has flipped its position on the iPhone 4 antenna. At first, the publication said that the signal woes weren't as serious as the Internet seemed to think, but it decided this week that it couldn't recommend the iPhone 4 thanks to its own lab tests on the issue. Now, Apple seems to be deleting discussion threads about the latest Consumer Reports conclusion, and Apple-watchers are incensed—even though this behavior is old hat for Apple.

Threads in Apple's support forums started popping up almost immediately after the latest CR report hit the Web. As noted by TUAW, there wasn't just one thread: there were at least six threads that now point to nothing. There are a few more than have not yet been deleted, however—this thread is still alive, as is this one, but it's unclear how long they will stay up.

Longtime Apple product users know that this isn't the first time Apple has deleted discussion threads about controversial topics. One of the higher-profile incidents of discussion censorship was when iMac displays began displaying gradients back in 2007. Another involved some discussions in 2008 about Apple's decision to get rid of FireWire in its MacBook line. Yet another incidence of discussion disappearance involved threads about iPod touch WiFi connection problems after updating to iPhone OS 3.0. 

There is rarely (if ever) comment from Apple as to why the discussions are disappearing, leading many to believe that Apple is actively trying to hide the issue. Others believe, however, that the nuked threads are simply ones that violate Apple's TOS, which states that discussions are specifically for community tech support about specific products, and must not include speculations about Apple's decisions. Posts must also be constructive and explicitly cannot contain "rants." These rules are far stricter than many other forums, but they are undoubtedly being used by moderators to decide which threads are worth shutting down.

Whatever the case, Apple is creating its own Streisand Effect here: the Internet is more abuzz than ever about the CR recommendation thanks to the disappearing threads, and it's likely only going to get worse. 

Apple did not respond to our request for comment about the disappearing iPhone 4 discussions by publication time.