Apple removes app from the App Store that tracked Hong Kong police and protests after pressure from China, says it “violates our guidelines and local laws”
A single tweet … Wired : Hong Kong Is the Latest Tripwire for Tech Firms in China Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed News : Apple Has Removed A Mapping App That Let Protesters In Hong Kong Track Police Aaron Holmes / Business Insider : Apple is getting slammed by both Republicans and Democrats for pulling an app used by Hong Kong … Nicolas Vega / New York Post : Apple draws criticisms for deleting app one day after China rebuke Kif Leswing / CNBC : Apple deferred to the Chinese government long before the Hong Kong protests Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing : Apple's capitulation over Hong Kong protest app isn't new; and the NBA is racing it to the bottom Anthony Ha / TechCrunch : Daily Crunch: Apple pulls Hong Kong app Ignacio Martinez / The Daily Dot : Apple removes Hong Kong police-tracking app amid Chinese pressure Jeremy Horwitz / VentureBeat : Cowardly kowtowing to China means Hong Kong blood is on Apple's hands MacDailyNews : Apple CEO Tim Cook's continued kowtowing to China is a very bad look Rob Thubron / TechSpot : Apple removes Hong Kong protest app, Quartz news app following Chinese criticism Carrie Mihalcik / CNET : Apple pulls HKmap.live app used in Hong Kong protests Elliot Hannon / Slate : Apple Pulls Map App Used by Hong Kong Protesters to Track Police After Pressure From Beijing Dalvin Brown / USA Today : Apple pulls police-tracking app in Hong Kong after facing pressure from state-run media Rachel England / Engadget : Apple removes Hong Kong protest app following Chinese pressure Laura He / CNN : Apple removes app used by Hong Kong protesters to track police movements Charlotte Henry / The Mac Observer : Apple Backtracks and Removes Hong Kong Protest App Chris Ciaccia / Fox News : Apple pulls controversial Hong Kong app again after being attacked by China state-run media Stuart Dredge / Music Ally : Blizzard under fire over ban for esports player's Hong Kong comments John Gruber / Daring Fireball : Apple Removes HKmap.live From App Store Memex 1.1 : Know-towing to China, contd. Joe Mcdonald / Associated Press : Apple removes Hong Kong map app after Chinese criticism Christian Zibreg / iDownloadBlog.com : Apple pulls Hong Kong protest app and Quartz news app at the behest of Chinese government Tweets: @hkmaplive : 1. We disagree @Apple and @hkpoliceforce 's claim that HKmap App endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong. #HKmap #HKmaplive #HK #Censorship @hkmaplive : 2. There is 0 evidence to support CSTCB's accusation that HKmap App has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement. @pinboard : So @hkmaplive has shared what purports to be an internal email from Tim Cook to Apple employees. As a user of the app, and an observer of the Hong Kong protests, I would like to address two serious allegations in this email that I believe are false. https://pastebin.com/... https://twitter.com/... Michael Brendan Dougherty / @michaelbd : It's not just a problem that Apple withdrew the app, depriving democracy advocates of a tool, it's that they did so while endorsing the CCP's interpretation of the facts. https://www.nytimes.com/... Michael Brendan Dougherty / @michaelbd : By withdrawing this app for these stated reasons. Tim Cook is allowing his company to be a character witness on behalf of Chairman Xi in the dispute over Hong Kong. Is this what he meant by changing things through “engagement?” https://twitter.com/... @hkmaplive : 3. HKmap App never solicit, promote, or encourage criminal activity. 4. HKmap App consolidate information from user and public sources, e.g. live news stream, Facebook and Telegram Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : Next time Apple tells us that “privacy is a human right” as justification for blocking cookies and other attacks on Google's ads business, it'll be good to remember how they acted when it was about actual human rights. Business strategy as morality is 👎 https://www.nytimes.com/... Ryan Mac / @rmac18 : Arguing HK protestors employed an app to ambush police, when the argument came from a state-run paper is irresponsible. Do some reporting. Talk to people on the ground. Don't both sides this and justify a trillion dollar co kowtowing to a gov based solely on what that gov says. https://twitter.com/... @hkmaplive : An anonymous source provided an @Apple internal email from @tim_cook https://pastebin.com/... Tim said Apple received “credible information” the App is used for illegal activity, therefore the App is illegal. We also received incredible information that those guy used iPhone. Hamza Shaban / @hshaban : Apple's China week: - removed the Taiwan flag emoji from iOS 13 for users in Hong Kong - removed the Quartz news app from the Chinese App Store over its Hong Kong protest coverage - removed HKmap, a crowdsourced mapping app used by Hong Kong residents https://www.theverge.com/... @pinboard : @hkmaplive @charlesmok I tweeted an example earlier of Hong Kongers using anonymous AirDrop to coordinate a protest the day the day after police shot a high schooler. If the police tell Mr. Cook to shut the feature down, will he do that too? https://twitter.com/... Matthew Panzarino / @panzer : 3. Tech companies, however, go on endlessly about doing good and making humanity better and moral compassing left and right. Can't have it both ways. Either you have a moral stance and you trade with that multiple, or you shut up about it and become ruthlessly amoral. Matthew Panzarino / @panzer : Anyway I made a joke about this companies allowing china to dictate policy thing but honestly it's not joke worthy. Some thoughts: 1. Companies must comply with local laws to do business 2. Business is the point of a company Lanny Davis / @lannydavis : https://www.nytimes.com/... via @NYTimes When will US consumers boycott all @Apple products and China products and any company (including @NBA ) that yields to dictatorial censorship and economic extortion by China. Chinese government beware - You need US consumers. Farhad Manjoo / @fmanjoo : 2 yrs ago Apple removed the NYT app from the Chinese App Store. I argued app censorship (vs web blocking) was a more dangerous kind of censorship — gives the gov a central point to block. You can't easily bootleg an app that's gone. I was right! https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dan Primack / @danprimack : 2/ None of which is to discount the lack of courage, or lack of conviction, that some US companies are showing this week. Dan Primack / @danprimack : As I wrote yesterday in Pro Rata newsletter: US companies are in no-man's land when it comes to China — in part because of a lack of D.C. leadership. It's very different to inject oneself into domestic politics vs. foreign, and WH is inconsistent on messaging, thus no cover. @pranavdixit : Maybe we should all do what @gruber does whenever he links to a Bloomberg story ("Bloomberg, of course, is the publication that published “The Big Hack..."): Use a disclaimer for every Apple story we write. “Apple, of course, is the company that keeps bowing to Chinese pressure.” Dr. Trey / @comparativist : truth. HK police sightings apps, maps, and Telegram channels are used to *get away* from police. There's an argument that it *assists* HKPF because they want ppl to scatter when they start raising flags & shooting. Ppl on the ground often don't know where to go, partly sorrounded https://twitter.com/... @hkmaplive : 5. Most of the contents are user-generated, and we allow users to down vote for moderator review. Moderator will delete contents that “solicit, promote, or encourage criminal activity”. Repeated attempt will be banned. @nytimes : In Opinion @fmanjoo writes, “A darker truth is now dawning on the world: China's economic miracle hasn't just failed to liberate Chinese people. It is also now routinely corrupting the rest of us outside of China.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Jonathan Cheng / @jchengwsj : Meanwhile, Google has suspended an Android-only app, “Revolution of Our Times,” a role-playing mobile game that puts you in the shoes of a Hong Kong protester, able to buy protective gear while also facing the risk of arrest or death. @HongKongFP https://www.hongkongfp.com/... Webb-site / @webbhk : While @Apple flip-flops and kowtows, @GooglePlay doesn't care because it has zero China biz. Anyway, Apple's Safari browser will take you there if you want: https://hkmap.live/, until HK Gov tries to block it with Emergency Regulations. https://twitter.com/... @semil : These days, I keep thinking about an old line, paraphrased: “There's a right to free speech, but that speech may also come with a cost.” Jane Manchun Wong / @wongmjane : I found @hkmaplive useful for avoiding cops amid tensions because of their abusive behavior towards millennials Now it's gone, thanks Apple 😡 https://twitter.com/... @hkmaplive : 7. The majority of user review in App Store that suggest HKmap IMPROVED public safety, not the opposite. Optimist Z / @lordzzedd : Your reminder that capitalism isn't about doing the right thing, just the profitable thing. https://twitter.com/... Francisco Tolmasky / @tolmasky : This was the predictable result for app stores and why “storeless” (web) is better. What matters is for everyone to have a voice, which is the default of the web and *antithetical* to a review process. The point of review is to filter: and you're not in control of the filter. https://twitter.com/... Raju PP / @rajupp : This is so damn ridiculous. Apple bending backwards to please China. Same with most tech companies. https://twitter.com/... Lucas Matney / @lucasmtny : “Letting poisonous software have its way is a betrayal of the Chinese people's feelings,” said the article, which was written under a pseudonym, “Calming the Waves.” https://twitter.com/... Dieter Bohn / @backlon : Excited to see the Apple App Store, paragon of consistency, ban Waze tomorrow. https://www.theverge.com/... Yannnnnn / @yannnnnn111 : @Apple choose to kneel before China! Apple removed the app HKmap that report location of police from App Store after pro-Beijing media @PDChina criticise them. This shows clearly CCP want to control the word. Plz fight against it tgt! https://www.nytimes.com/... Pui-Wing Tam / @puiwingtam : It seemed like only a matter of time before Apple would get drawn into the political tensions around China. Few multinational companies have more to lose there. @jacknicas https://www.nytimes.com/... Jack Nicas / @jacknicas : The same week Chinese state media skewered Apple for approving an app that helps Hong Kong protesters track police, the Chinese government appears to have gotten Apple to pull the Quartz app there. More context: Apple pulled the @nytimes app in China in late 2016. https://twitter.com/... Carlos Tejada / @crtejada : “Today, what I have lost in Hearthstone is four years of time,” he said, referring to the years he spent playing the game. “But if Hong Kong loses, it would be the matter of a lifetime.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Will Oremus / @willoremus : Last week, Apple rejected a Hong Kong maps app that let protesters track police. Critics speculated Apple was trying to appease China, but lacked proof. Yesterday, Apple approved the app on appeal, and Chinese state media blasted the company. So, yeah. https://onezero.medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...