Apple Bows To Chinese Censorship Demands
from the tibet-or-not-tibet dept
It isn't news that Apple's app store is a garden with some mighty high, awfully arbitrary walls. Whether Apple is rejecting developer's apps on the grounds of profanity or subject matter, the fact is that the reasoning for these takedowns is a thinly veiled form of what I call "Apple morality". Swearing is bad for kids, or kids shouldn't have access to games about war. Definitely no nudity. These, business practices or not, are all moral claims. We might disagree with their version of morality, but that's what it is.
Which is why I'd be curious to hear Apple's reasoning for taking down an app in China that allowed users to read books about Tibet. The company claimed that they did so because that content is illegal in China, of course.
The app, "jingdian shucheng", offered access to ten books via the iPhone and iPad. Mr Hao said he believed three titles by Wang Lixiong, a political writer and activist, had prompted the ban, according to The Financial Times. Mr Wang is a prominent critic of Chinese policy in Tibet.Here's the problem: if you're going to take a moral stance in the rest of the world, you need to take one in China as well. Bowing to pressures to censor speech in China would not square with any flavor of morality. On the other hand, were Apple to stick to their "it's illegal" reason for taking the app down, then they need to come out and explain the other examples of takedowns above, since those are not illegal. It seems to me that Apple wants to apply their "Apple morality" everywhere...until a dollar is introduced.
Concern over Apple’s weakness in the booming Chinese smartphone market has been seen by investors as a potential problem for its continued growth. It has been a major cause of a share price slump in recent months that has forced Mr Cook to repeatedly defend his strategy. The firm has been repeatedly rumoured to be developing a cheaper iPhone designed to court Chinese consumers but it has not yet revealed its plans.In other words, rather than try to push the Chinese to stop censoring, as others have, Apple is selling their convictions down the Huang He river in favor of money. Nice going, guys.
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Filed Under: censorship, china, free speech
Companies: apple
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Why is this news?
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Re: Why is this news?
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Re: Why is this news?
Also, USA has put China on the black list and harrass them as much as possible. It is not helping USA one bit, except for creating the illusive enemy that is such a central piece in keeping the people content with war and government spending in the 1984-esque world.
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Re: Re: Why is this news?
Apple is being a hypocrite again. This is old news.
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fair's fair
To be fair, Apple can have more than one criterion for rejecting an app. They can refuse one because it allows locally illegal subject matter, and another because it allows material Apple considers too strong for children.
Hey, if they want to reduce their own market share arbitrarily, that's their prerogative.
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Yet another reason why I don't buy iCrap...
Support FOSS & Open-source hardware!
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Re: Yet another reason why I don't buy iCrap...
If some $country have a law that forbid to insult present ruler, guess what? Apple will comply. Because it's up to people to deal with regime.
Wake me up when you have open-source design of AND-gate in 20nm process.
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Re: Re: Yet another reason why I don't buy iCrap...
What has that got to do with the price of eggs?
Open Soruce and open design all ready kick ass in all the sectors it has penetrated.
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Re: Re: Re: Yet another reason why I don't buy iCrap...
What kind of "open source hardware" can you build, when you missing even simplest building block?
Do you have open-source place-and-route tools? How about synthesis? Timing check?
Clueless idiot.
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Re: Re: Yet another reason why I don't buy iCrap...
But... I thought that corporations were people!
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it's all about business
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Re: it's all about business
That's a meaningless argument because it cuts both ways. The same sentence would apply equally well to defend a company when it refuses to bow to morality-based demands.
That answers a completely different question. Whether or not something is a good business move is independent of whether or not that action is objectionable.
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Re: it's all about business
its not about 'morality', but (some unknown and unknowable tiny minority of loudmouthed prudes) *might* potentially bitch about it sullying their 'reputation', and THAT isn't 'morality' ? ? ?
THAT is the VERY DEFINITION of (so-called) 'morality'...
you're full of it, fanboi...
pron makes money, richtig ? ? ?
they don't sell pron, why not, it makes money ? ? ?
THAT is a (supposedly) 'moral' choice right there...
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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or trying to stop companies from advertising, because of the programming on that station ?
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Seriously, I bought a game about killing bad guys with swords and magic. I don't care to have a guy constantly pestering me to let him skewer my backside. I wouldn't put up with it in real life so I'm sure as hell not going to put up with it in my entertainment.
I'd also have a problem if they wrote in a female sex pest.
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how right you are! it's funny how companies take the 'moral high ground' until doing so is realised as a reduction in revenue. it's nothing less than the usual 'double standards' that a lot of companies but Apple in particular suffer from!
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When I see things like this it just makes me want to tell such investors a big and loud "FUCK YOU". But then again money is much, much more important than anything else so...
Humanity has a long way to go before we can evolve from this crude rotten turd we are generally speaking.
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Evolution is lengthy process in general, and current set of "human rights" is not that different of 10 commandments, which are more than 2000 years old.
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Apple needs China
Android is big in China. Apple needs China. Morals are easy to compromise when market share is at stake in the only growth market left that Apple could potentially make headway into.
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