Some public places want more Pokémon Go—but the Holocaust Museum does not [Updated]

Some public places want more Pokémon Go—but the Holocaust Museum does not [Updated]

Follows anecdotal police, medical reports of people using the app to their detriment.

Sam Machkovech – Jul 12, 2016 3:50 pm | 158

This Imgur post of a Holocaust Museum scene within Pokémon Go, which has since been taken down by its original poster, may have been faked, but its cultural impact has already been slammed by museum representatives. Credit: Imgur

Pokémon Go‘s stratospheric launch last week is the stuff of social-scientist dreams, in terms of seeing how millions of people are using a semi-social, map-based smartphone game with little precedent. The results have ranged from adorable to troubling, and while some restaurants and shops are advertising that they welcome Pokémon Go players, other locations are not. In particular, a social-media flare-up highlighted one of the more extreme examples of the app’s fallout: when users descend upon a culturally sensitive landmark while wielding a camera- and GPS-powered app.

On Tuesday, representatives for Washington, DC’s Holocaust Museum issued a statement to the Washington Post asking visitors to put Pokémon Go away. “Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism,” communication director Andrew Hollinger told the Post.

The statement came following a rash of players who visited the museum with the app turned on, attracted by the fact that the Holocaust Museum counts as a “Pokéstop” and can therefore be seeded with the game’s “beacon” items to attract a higher number of the game’s collectible Pokémon characters. Since the game also includes a camera function, which projects 3D Pokemon characters into real-world scenes, one image began circulating online of a Koffing Pokémon—as in, a gaseous, poisonous smoke monster—floating inside the museum.

Post reporter Andrea Peterson went the extra mile to suggest that the Koffing image may have been faked, as she reported not being able to find any trace of that character while using the app near the museum; in its current state, the app has generally been consistent about seeding certain characters in certain zones, which has fueled its social aspect (as in, “Hey, head to such-and-such bus stop to collect a Pidgey”). Still, other legitimate photos have circulated with Pokémon characters floating around the Holocaust Museum, which Hollinger denounced. “This game falls very much outside” the museum’s usual social-media outreach efforts, Hollinger said.

Hollinger said he has requested to have the museum’s Pokéstop status removed from the game. Currently, neither the app nor Niantic’s dedicated support site includes any simple path to requesting that a location be flagged or considered for removal. Update: Niantic representatives declined to answer Ars’ questions about whether it will abide by the museum’s request for delisting. Instead, Ars was forwarded a link to Niantic’s “bug report ticket” site and was told that “inappropriate locations or content” could be reported through that interface. That site does not include specific instructions about making such reports.

The news follows a rash of official notices and anecdotal reports about people using the app to their detriment. In particular, posts by police officers and medical professionals are alleging a rash of police reports and ER visits, respectively, revolving around Pokémon Go; in the former case, issues appear to stem from “suspicious” individuals descending upon the game’s Pokéstop locations at strange hours, while in the latter, pedestrians and car drivers alike may be ignoring the app’s splash screen warning them to be mindful of their surroundings while playing.