Apple and Google accused of promoting damaging iTunes game that urges operating on cartoon girl 'to make her beautiful'

Apple and Google are facing a backlash from social media users for promoting cartoon plastic surgery apps to children as young as nine.

Messages on Twitter spoke of disgust over an iTunes game which shows a smiling cartoon character named Barbie about to go under the knife. Users of the app are placed in the role of a liposuction doctor.

The blurb for the app, created by Corina Rodriquez, reads: "This unfortunate girl has so much extra weight that no diet can help her. In our clinic she can go through a surgery called liposuction that will make her slim and beautiful. We'll need to make small cuts on problem areas and suck out the extra fat. Will you operate her, doctor??"

Recommended as being suitable for children aged nine and over, the game, called Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie, was released in January 2013 and was free to download on Apple's iTunes store.

However, by the end of Tuesday afternoon the app had been removed from the Apple store, following the angry Twitter protests.

Rodriquez's other titles, including Leg & Foot Surgery & Doctor and Hospital Office for Barbie, and a range of make-over apps, remained available on iTunes.

A similar app on Google Play shows blonde-haired cartoon character Barbara lying in a hospital bed with surgery marker lines over her body. "Plastic surgeon is going to make operation on her body and face in order to return cute Barbara's look," reads the blurb of the app, developed by Natalya Staritsyna.

On Tuesday night, a Google spokesman said: "We don't comment on individual apps, but will remove apps that breach our guidelines."

A member of the public, Melissa Hardie, on Twitter called the iTunes app disgusting. "They should reconsider marketing this crap to players aged 9+". Another, Ayala Prager, said: "Any plans to schedule Action Man for post-fight rhinoplasty? Thought not."

The apps appeared to be unconnected to Mattel, makers of the Barbie doll.

Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism project, said these apps were "incredibly damaging" to the body image held by young girls. "We are calling on iTunes and Google Play to reconsider whether these kind of things are what their platforms want to be offering to children."

She added that the use of Barbie's name made the apps "attractive to girls at an incredibly young age", while their "complete focus on women's looks and their bodies" sent a message that said looks were everything.

Bates said: "Access to the internet means these things are much more quickly available at the touch of a finger tip, and children in particular are so media savvy these days. They are on iPads, they are on smartphones. They are able to access these apps. The Barbie plastic surgery app was completely free and could have been downloaded instantly.

"It is just so sad that we are sending that message to children as young as nine that the ideal body is all that they should be aiming for and that the way to get it is by cutting their bodies apart."

Apple and Mattel could not immediately be reached for comment.

Playing at liposuction

The purpose off the app Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie Version might seem just to get players to click on the adverts.

On launching the app for first time an advert fills the screen; tapping the cross to close it releases a second advert promoting other games made by the same developer. On closing that a third advert appears.

Finally the game is ready to play (though a fourth advert takes up permanent residence at the bottom of the screen and two more adverts appear if the player switches away from the app then returns).

The game is simple. The player taps on the proffered surgical tool, then taps on the body to use it. Helpful arrows show what to do. Liposuction involves local anaesthetic, a scalpel, and something that looks like a bicycle pump. The poorly programmed controls and slow animations means it takes about 10 minutes to finish. Once the surgery is over there's an opportunity to play dress-up, with a choice of a few hairstyles, dresses and shoes.

Aside from objections over its sexism, the app underscores the double-sided nature of Apple's control over the App Store. At the same time as being overzealous in its approval process – removing apps such as that of the Pulitzer-prizewinning editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore after accusations of "ridiculing public figures" – the company lets many more apps slip through the net.

Alex Hern