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Apple removes app used in Hong Kong protests after pressure from China

Taffy Lewis

Taffy Lewis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,521
Seems like Apple wants to get in on the action:

Apple removes app used in Hong Kong protests after pressure from China
"This app violates our guidelines and local laws."
By Sam Byford@345triangle Oct 10, 2019, 12:32am EDT

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Apple has removed HKmap.live, a crowdsourced mapping app widely used by Hong Kong residents, from the App Store. The app and accompanying web service has been used to mark the locations of police and inform about street closures during the ongoing pro-democracy protests that have engulfed Hong Kong this year.

Apple initially rejected HKmap.live from the App Store earlier this month, then reversed its decision a few days later. Now it has reversed its reversal.
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Regulus Tera

Regulus Tera

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,458
I'm very curious to see how the Trump administration will react to this display of Chinese soft power, considering what happened with Huawei a few months ago.
 
5taquitos

5taquitos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,860
OR
It's like all these companies waited for the South Park episode to come out before publicly airing their shitty positions.
 

jenya

Member
Oct 27, 2017
265
Apple gets most of their products assembled there, so no time for human rights
 

Vish

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,174
Apple can't afford to fuck around. Their reliance on China is very risky now. They need to reduce risk by offshoring from China.
 
Potterson

Potterson

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,408
This is just sad, because nothing will change. People don't care. And even if they do care, they won't just boycott Apple, cause it's "their favourite Apple".
 
bricewgilbert

bricewgilbert

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
868
WA, USA
It doesn't make it right, but this has been a thing for many many many years. Every tech company who operates in China does it. Maybe with the latest spotlight on it things will change, but it's so common and money is so powerful I don't know.
 
Kitten Mittens

Kitten Mittens

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Dec 11, 2018
2,368
Apple continues to be holier than thou....but only when it suits them. Fuck off, Tim.
 
Timbuktu

Timbuktu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,228
It was surprising that the app got approval in the first place. At least a ton Hong Kongers got to use it.
 
Fliesen

Fliesen

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,251
FF Seraphim said:
Apple is super essy to avoid purchasing from them. Will people have the moral conviction to do so? I doubt it.
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How so? It's not like there's many Android phones that are not manufactured in China and Google is actively working on creating a version of Google that adheres to China's censorship.

This isn't "whataboutism" but a serious question of - what's the alternative?

Every larger corporation is so dependent on China, either as a growth market or as a core location in its supply chain - and that dependency is coming back to haunt them really bad right now.
 
texhnolyze

texhnolyze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,145
Indonesia
FF Seraphim said:
Apple is super essy to avoid purchasing from them. Will people have the moral conviction to do so? I doubt it.
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Yes, there are a lot of (good) alternatives to Apple products, but for a lot of people, Apple produtcs are their life. They use everything Apple related, from phone to TV and music.

Timbuktu said:
It was surprising that the app got approval in the first place. At least a ton Hong Kongers got to use it.
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Isn't it like Waze? People use it to mark the polices' "parking spot" too here in my country.
 

Deleted member 8166

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
4,075
texhnolyze said:
Yes, there are a lot of (good) alternatives to Apple products, but for a lot of people, Apple produtcs are their life. They use everything Apple related, from phone to TV and music.
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which one?
Honest question. Because google has done more questionable shit. Who else is there with a mobile OS that is widely used?
 
FF Seraphim

FF Seraphim

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,684
Tokyo
Fliesen said:
How so? It's not like there's many Android phones that are not manufactured in China and Google is actively working on creating a version of Google that adheres to China's censorship.

This isn't "whataboutism" but a serious question of - what's the alternative?

Every larger corporation is so dependent on China, either as a growth market or as a core location in its supply chain - and that dependency is coming back to haunt them really bad right now.
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Samsung just closed its last factory in China. So every new phone won't be made in China. Well 50% of their phones are made in Korean anyway.
 
Liyfda

Liyfda

Member
Oct 27, 2017
349
Y'all like lists?

Business Hall of Bootlickers
  • Activision Blizzard: banned player for supporting Hong Kong democracy protest. Confiscated all his winnings. Fired his interviewers. Apologized to China: condemned the incident, swore to defend China's national dignity
  • Apple: censors Taiwan flag emoji in iOS in Hong Kong
  • Apple: banned Hong Kong protest map from App Store. Approved app after backlash. Banned app once again after criticism from China
  • Vans: censors pro-HK democracy design in its shoe design competition
  • NBA (partial entry): rebuked Rockets manager for his pro-HK tweet, saying NBA was "extremely disappointed with Morey's inappropriate comment." Backpedalled after backlash, now saying they support Morey's freedom of speech.
  • Disney / ESPN: forbids mention of Chinese politics when discussing Rockets manager's pro-HK tweet. ESPN hosts castigate Morey but won't talk about what caused the tweet: China's encroachment on HK
  • Viacom / Paramount: censors Taiwan flag from the jacket worn by Tom Cruise in the new "Top Gun" movie
  • Disney / Marvel: censored Tibetan monk from "Doctor Strange" and turned him into a white woman. Movie screenwriter: "if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he's Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that's bullshit".
  • ASICS, Calvin Klein, Coach, Fresh, Givenchy, Pocari Sweat, Valentino, Versace, Swarovski: details here
  • Marriott: apologized & changed "Taiwan" to "Taiwan, China" after China threw a hissy fit
  • Nike: removed all Houston Rockets products from their China webstore
  • Activision Blizzard: cut livestream when American University team held up pro-HK sign.
  • Apple: handed over iCloud data & encryption keys to China
  • Riot Games: censors the words "Hong Kong", forcing casters to refer to team "Hong Kong Attitude" as "HKA".
  • Cathay Pacific: fired employees for FB posts supporting HK protests.
  • Apple: minimized the seriousness of iOS exploits that enabled China to track Uyghurs, when 1M+ of them are rounded up by China in concentration camps
  • Google: censored pro-HK game "The Revolution of Our Times" from Google Play because it was about a "sensitive event".
  • Gap: apologized to China for selling T-shirts IN CANADA that didn't include Taiwan as part of China
  • Tiffany: removed tweet showing model covering 1 eye after China accused it of supporting HK
  • Marriott: fired employee who liked tweet from Tibetan group
  • Mercedes: apologized for quoting Dalai Lama on Instagram
  • American, Delta, United: deleted mention of Taiwan as a country from websites
  • Audi: apologized for using "incorrect map" of China that left off Taiwan
  • Muji: destroyed store catalogs that contain "incorrect" map of China
  • Zara: apologized for listing Taiwan as country
  • Medtronic: apologized for publishing "illegal content" that listed "Republic of China (Taiwan)" as country
  • Ray-Ban: changed "Taiwan" & "Hongkong" to "China Taiwan" & "China Hongkong"
  • Qantas, Air France, Air Canada, British Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA: changed "Taiwan" to "Taiwan China" on websites
  • TikTok: censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, Falun Gong
  • Sheraton: banned Taiwan National Day event after China pressure
  • Disney: shrank/removed non-white characters from Chinese poster of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
  • Philly Sixers: ejected fans for supporting HK
  • Princeton: don't talk about 3 Ts: Tibet, Tiananmen, Taiwan
  • Leica: released ad on Tiananmen protest. Apologized & distanced itself from ad
  • Reddit: took $150M from Tencent. Removed thread like this
  • Rockhampton, Queensland: censored Taiwan flag in student project
  • Cisco: helped build Great Firewall including module to persecute Falun Gong
  • MGM: changed Red Dawn's villain from China to N Korea to placate China
  • Global Blue: fired staff for calling Taiwan a country
  • L'Oréal / Lancôme: canceled HK artist concert for her pro-democracy activism
  • US universities: self-censor in fear of offending China
Business Hall of Backbones

  • Matt Stone & Trey Parker: South Park "Band in China"
  • Red Bull: released video supporting protests for freedom & liberty
  • Ubisoft: listened to fans, said no to China after initially saying they would tone down game content to be China-compliant.
  • Prague: cancel partnership with Beijing over 1-China principle
  • Immutable: offer to repay banned gamer's winnings that was confiscated by Blizzard, got cyber attacked as a result
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Someone on Reddit compiled a nice list!

The list was removed by a mod but here's another source
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J_ToSaveTheDay

J_ToSaveTheDay

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
18,775
USA
Now I'm in a place where Apple reminds me of some of the very shady shit they've had going on with China for a very long time that I admit I had let slide to the back of my mind, and Google has actively lost my trust when it comes to data harvesting over the years.

Tech generally been on a hard disappointment streak when it comes to ethics.
 
Nappuccino

Nappuccino

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
12,998
Not going to lie, in the past few years one been more and more tempted to get a few apple products. (The new iPhone is mighty tempting.) This makes it easy to say no again.
 
TheYanger

TheYanger

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,133
b-b-b-but they respect our privacy because they care about people!

Fucking trash company as always.
 
Liyfda

Liyfda

Member
Oct 27, 2017
349
texhnolyze said:
I don't use it
I don't use it
I don't use it

...then it comes, Google. Well, shit. Seriously, if Google is not on the list I'd be super clean.
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Google's been trying, they had a project called Project Dragonfly

Google is planning to launch a censored version of its search engine in China that will blacklist websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest,
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That being said, the project has supposedly stopped or slowed down due to senate hearing and outrage from public & employees.
 
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