According to reports, Ekstra Bladet claims Apple has rejected the newspaper’s iPad application citing a “Page Nine” photo as being “offensive.”
But the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Poul Madsen has refused to omit the shot from the iPad version of the publication and is willing to go to court to dispute the matter.
“This is madness. There’s absolutely nothing pornographic or offensive about her," Madsen said.
He added, “She is part of the soul of the paper. She’s a breath of fresh air, a ray of sunshine in a daily reality that is usually filled with violence and crime.”
Madsen is accusing Apple of unfair censorship and anti-competitive behavior since it cannot publish the entire version of the paper on the iPad.
“The Page 9 girl is not investigative journalism, but it is still an expression of how we perceive the freedom of speech in this country. So far, Apple has arrogantly ignored our inquiries,” Madsen said.
The editor added, “But that is about to change now that we’ve threatened to take the case to the EU-tribunal.”
The newspaper is also mounting a grassroots readers campaign to help expose what it's calling Apple’s double standards.
Madsen is asking its readers to send in examples of other tabloids, such as German paper Bild and Britain's The Sun that are allowed to show topless girls on their iPad applications.
“We want to point out the double standards and reveal how much bare skin Steve Jobs uses in his little app-land,” Madsen said.