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Apple removes app used in Hong Kong protests after pressure from China
- Thread starter Taffy Lewis
- Start date
This is dressing as hell and yet expected. Money tops anything.
Back to bartering.
Sounds post-apocalyptic. But maybe we're on the verge of that happening. Everyone is testing their long-range missiles nowadays.
Avoid apple? Easy, been doing it for years. Looks like im done with marvel/Disney too. Wish i could ditch google too
...only if it's rigged for corporations.
The right believes that capitalism is more important than democracy. Here's a paragraph with some links explaining how it happened from Kotaku:
The actual links:
Looking back at Neoliberalism
https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/capitalist-realism
They'er scary and rage-inducing to read, but I highly recommend them and keep fighting by calling your lawmakers.
I love that when it's Apple or Disney people here immediately say "Well Google does the same!" / "Well Comcast is garbage!", as if one thing excuses the other.
boy you seem really insecure about these bubbles since you're always spamming this same post in apple threads
Im not seeing much of that in this thread. What a difference from the blizzard thread.
I did a couple years ago, it's not that hard. Google Maps is the only exception, but I use it without a google account and comb through the settings regularly to turn the bullshit off.
De-googling your life is one of the nicest feelings
You probably won't.
The smartphone market is a duopoly. Few smartphone companies manufacture their phones without at least part of their supply chain coming from China.
Not to mention network effects and ecosystem lock-in that Apple is so fond of.
The solution is to break up Apple and Google so we actually get some competition in the smartphone market.
Hmm. This looks about 75% Phone Warz and 25% ethical disaster.
- The statement from Apple never states this was due to pressure from China, but rather pressure from Hong Kong due to ambush of police and making people feel unsafe by identifying where police are absent. That may be bullshit but it isn't a directive from "China"/ the CCP.
- The app was on the store for 5 days. The claim that this was commonly used by protestors seems misleading since practically all protest action thus far happened before the app was available.
- The service is still accessible from iPhones as a web service. It's hard to see why the app is even necessary in that case.
- Furthering the point about the web service as an alternative, the app actually represents a risk for the users in that Apple must have records of which Apple accounts have retrieved the app from the App Store, information that Apple could be compelled to turn over to HK authorities. Removing the app removes that legal risk for Apple and the protestors. I have to wonder if demands for user data wasn't at least on the minds of Apple's legal department when they advised on this.
Because the competition has nothing to do with China or because you not having an iPhone will help human rights in China?
Damn, did this OP get removed too? A (perhaps updated from when you posted it) mirror anywhere?
Yep. Sure, there's little I can do, but it's something I can do.
When you have a local presence you have to obey local laws. Remember when Apple was forced to remove Wolf 3D Classic from the Swiss and Austrian app stores? That's not Swiss and Austrians lording their power over Apple, that's just curating content for local laws. There's a difference between curating local stores for local audiences and totally throwing your values under the bus unnecessarily.
The whole Blizzchung thing happened on the APAC stream based out of Taipei. There was no reason to kowtow to China other than to make them happy. There was no legal pressure or anything else. Ditto for Daryl Morey. Apple has a legal obligation or they leave just like any company doing business there. The other two have no obligation, they just threw values of freedom and democracy under the bus for a quick yuan.
The whole Blizzchung thing happened on the APAC stream based out of Taipei. There was no reason to kowtow to China other than to make them happy. There was no legal pressure or anything else. Ditto for Daryl Morey. Apple has a legal obligation or they leave just like any company doing business there. The other two have no obligation, they just threw values of freedom and democracy under the bus for a quick yuan.
Well shit. Checked the post again and indeed it's been scrubbed, along with the reddit user who posted it.
Not suspicious at all.
Quite the contrary, there is a lot you can do. I would suggest using that iPhone, Android, Mac, PC or whatever other device you prefer to write an article or an essay, create a piece of art, make an app, learn something new, send a loved one a message of support, use it for your job and spend money for a good cause.... There are, actually, a lot of things you can do - with your iPhone (or any other device) for Hong Kong, the world, people around you, yourself. A lot of these things are hard and require thinking and effort, but they can change the world, even if only a little. Boycotting Apple or other companies, however, is not "little", it's "zero" - it literally accomplishes nothing. Because the only thing Apple can do is leave (or be forced out of) China - which won't change anything (in fact, it can actually make things even worse).
So, don't do the easy thing (and boycotting is, actually, very easy, especially if it's selective - which is the case with most people here) - do the difficult thing and make the world just a little bit better.
Of course I won't.
I can live with that though.
Best I can do is stand up against those who want to further advance capitalism in anyway I can. This shit ain't right.
I mean, these are things that I'm doing anyway (though it feels futile--so I appreciate the emphasis on these methods being productive). But keeping 1000 bucks from Apple's pocket seems like an easy extra step.
Yeah it got removed but someone took screenshots of the list
No. Different crime, different time. Or less glibly, take action that is suited to the goals of the movement and to the circumstances.
Just like with Blizzard, I'm done with Apple. I won't be buying any more of their products or anything from the App Store.
Tell your shareholders that you value ethics more than a bit of extra profit. It's not like most of these companies were bleeding without China. Also, if you are a CEO getting pressure from your board for taking a moral stance, you should out them by name.
That's why you name and shame. I bet you couldn't tell me a single Apple board member outside of Tim Cook. And that's like knowing who the president is but no senators. But if I started repeating a name do you think the press would start asking questions? Do you think people would start protesting? This is exactly how the Koch brothers got their fame.
It's public information. Not a secret who's on their board.
It ultimate wouldn't make a difference. These people aren't gonna choose between a billion potential customers and their job.