Tim Cook's claim in an internal email that the banned app in Hong Kong “was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence” doesn't add up
not to smash things, not to attack the police, but simply to get around Hong Kong without running into a road filled with tear gas or blocked by protesters. https://twitter.com/... Ian Brown / @1br0wn : “The hope was that exposure to western business would accelerate China's move to a consumerist democracy. Instead, the reverse is happening: the country's vast business opportunity and totalitarian edge is wearing off on western companies.” https://www.ft.com/... Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : this is the worst CEO letter i've seen and we've been reporting on a lot of them lately https://www.reuters.com/... Avi Asher-Schapiro / @aaschapiro : Recall that Apple (& Google) were totally fine w/hosting the Saudi App “Absher,” that among other things, gives men an easy interface to control the travel of women, & foreigner workers. https://www.hrw.org/... https://twitter.com/... @pinboard : @hkmaplive So the Hong Kong police spokesman today contradicted Tim Cook's account. Cook also said the app is “in violation of Hong Kong law” Neither Cook nor anyone speaking for the Hong Kong government has been able to point to a law that this app contravenes, because no such law exists. @pinboard : @hkmaplive The police in today's briefing used hypothetical language because every observer of Hong Kong protests knows such ambushes have not happened. Tim Cook, in his internal memo to Apple employees, changed this to make it sound as if these attacks on police had already happened. @pinboard : @hkmaplive Cook wrote “we received credible information, from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, as well as from users in Hong Kong, that the app was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimize individuals and property” @pinboard : This is important. Note the hypothetical language used here by Hong Kong police—they contacted “several app stores” (presumably including Apple) with the complaint that @hkmaplive “could leak the officers' whereabouts, which could facilitate the criminals to ambush our officers.” https://twitter.com/... @charlesmok : Tim Cook defends Apple's removal of Hong Kong mapping app //Charles Mok, HK legislative council member, wrote to Cook saying he was “deeply disappointed with Apple's decision to ban the app, and would like to contest the claims made by HK police force.// https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Zeynep Tufekci / @zeynep : @Apple @tim_cook @hkmaplive Thread on why @tim_cook's email to Apple employees on its HK map ban makes no sense. The claims make no sense and have no evidence. Plus, police locations aren't secret! It's a small city. The key function of the app is to *avoid* the police/tear gas https://twitter.com/... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : When you've lost the fireball... https://daringfireball.net/... @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. @ultim8boon : @Techmeme @getongab @gruber “The app does not show an absence of police, it shows concentrations of police, tear gas, riot flags etc” Set aside the fact that showing concentrations of X lets you deduce lack of X elsewhere. The “house” icon showed safe zones, which presumably did not have a police presence Neil Cybart / @neilcybart : Here's Tim Cook on why Apple removed the HKMap. live app from the App Store in Hong Kong. It's a strong statement. Cook claims the facts point to the app being used to “target individual officers for violence” and “victimize individuals and property...” https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Terence Chan / @terencechantl : The defence @tim_cook made is weak, as we HKers have been subjected to police violence for months now. You cannot trust the Hong Kong police. You cannot trust the Hong Kong government. There is no substantial evidence to support the claims that this app violated laws in HK. https://twitter.com/... @jonyiveparody : “We believe this decision best protects our u̶s̶e̶r̶ s̶ manufacturing interests.” FTFY @tim_cook https://twitter.com/... Hipster / @hipster_trader : TLDR profits are all that matters https://twitter.com/... @thomholwerda : “Genocidal dictatorship told us the application was dangerous, and we believe them because we are 100% dependent on them.” https://twitter.com/... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : Shorter Tim Cook: I will take principled stances when Apple can profit off them. https://www.reuters.com/... John Gruber / @gruber : I can't recall an Apple memo or statement that crumbles so quickly under scrutiny. For a company that usually measures umpteen times before cutting anything, it's both sad and startling. https://daringfireball.net/... Spencer Dailey / @spencerdailey : @Techmeme @gruber Honest question - who is scarier: a strongman dictator who is open with his beliefs or a gentle soul CEO who has an MLK Jr poster hanging in his office that can jump through the mental gymnastics necessary to aid the strongman dictator? Jane Manchun Wong / @wongmjane : Fuck you Tim Cook https://www.reuters.com/... Mat Honan / @mat : “National and international debates will outlive us all” Well that's some cowardly bullshit. https://www.reuters.com/... William Buchanan / @williambiii : @Techmeme @getongab @gruber Under his theory any app the governments use to target individuals should also be banned. Face recognition, etc...
I would invite @tim_cook from @Apple to visit #HK and see how credible the @hkpoliceforce and pro-BJ government are, how he can keep himself safe with #HKmap and how we stand up to the authority and fight for #freedom amid #China pressure, a core value that American share.
“On the one hand, Apple is the woke consumer tech company that cares about you, your privacy, and the rest of the world. On the other, Apple is deeply enmeshed in a country that supports (state-approved) capitalism but not civil liberties.” By me. https://twitter.com/...
Apple removes Hong Kong crowdsourcing app from it's store. They say it's unsafe to tell people where the police are. By this logic, Apple should remove the WAZE app as well. The police location crowdsource feature is one of it's best benefits. https://www.theverge.com/...
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…
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/...
So, I promised to say more about this, but @Pinboard beat me to it, so go read that thread. Apple's justifications for pulling down the http://hkmap.live/ app make no sense. https://twitter.com/...
This map is incredibly useful. I use it every weekend — not to smash things, not to attack the police, but simply to get around Hong Kong without running into a road filled with tear gas or blocked by protesters. https://twitter.com/...
“The hope was that exposure to western business would accelerate China's move to a consumerist democracy. Instead, the reverse is happening: the country's vast business opportunity and totalitarian edge is wearing off on western companies.” https://www.ft.com/...
Recall that Apple (& Google) were totally fine w/hosting the Saudi App “Absher,” that among other things, gives men an easy interface to control the travel of women, & foreigner workers. https://www.hrw.org/... https://twitter.com/...
@hkmaplive So the Hong Kong police spokesman today contradicted Tim Cook's account. Cook also said the app is “in violation of Hong Kong law” Neither Cook nor anyone speaking for the Hong Kong government has been able to point to a law that this app contravenes, because no such l…
@hkmaplive The police in today's briefing used hypothetical language because every observer of Hong Kong protests knows such ambushes have not happened. Tim Cook, in his internal memo to Apple employees, changed this to make it sound as if these attacks on police had already happ…
@hkmaplive Cook wrote “we received credible information, from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, as well as from users in Hong Kong, that the app was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimize individuals and property”
This is important. Note the hypothetical language used here by Hong Kong police—they contacted “several app stores” (presumably including Apple) with the complaint that @hkmaplive “could leak the officers' whereabouts, which could facilitate the criminals to ambush our officers.”…
Tim Cook defends Apple's removal of Hong Kong mapping app //Charles Mok, HK legislative council member, wrote to Cook saying he was “deeply disappointed with Apple's decision to ban the app, and would like to contest the claims made by HK police force.// https://www.theguardian.c…
@Apple @tim_cook @hkmaplive Thread on why @tim_cook's email to Apple employees on its HK map ban makes no sense. The claims make no sense and have no evidence. Plus, police locations aren't secret! It's a small city. The key function of the app is to *avoid* the police/tear gas h…
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.
@Techmeme @getongab @gruber “The app does not show an absence of police, it shows concentrations of police, tear gas, riot flags etc” Set aside the fact that showing concentrations of X lets you deduce lack of X elsewhere. The “house” icon showed safe zones, which presumably did …
Here's Tim Cook on why Apple removed the HKMap. live app from the App Store in Hong Kong. It's a strong statement. Cook claims the facts point to the app being used to “target individual officers for violence” and “victimize individuals and property...” https://www.bloomberg.com/…
The defence @tim_cook made is weak, as we HKers have been subjected to police violence for months now. You cannot trust the Hong Kong police. You cannot trust the Hong Kong government. There is no substantial evidence to support the claims that this app violated laws in HK. https…
I can't recall an Apple memo or statement that crumbles so quickly under scrutiny. For a company that usually measures umpteen times before cutting anything, it's both sad and startling. https://daringfireball.net/...
@Techmeme @gruber Honest question - who is scarier: a strongman dictator who is open with his beliefs or a gentle soul CEO who has an MLK Jr poster hanging in his office that can jump through the mental gymnastics necessary to aid the strongman dictator?