Sources: in early 2018, Eddy Cue and Morgan Wandell, Apple's international TV lead, asked some Apple TV+ show creators to avoid portraying China in a poor light
When it comes to China … Cindy Harper / Reclaim The Net : Apple TV+ exec warned creators not to anger China when creating shows, report says Chance Miller / 9to5Mac : Report: Apple told Apple TV+ creators to avoid portraying China ‘in a poor light’ Caroline Haskins / VICE : Tech Companies Didn't Plan for Chinese Censorship CNET : Apple told makers of TV Plus shows to avoid depicting China critically, report says MacDailyNews : Apple execs told Apple TV+ content creators not to portray China negatively John Gruber / Daring Fireball : BuzzFeed: ‘Apple Told Some Apple TV+ Show Developers Not to Anger China’ Surur / MSPoweruser : Apple TV report reveals South Park China episode an accurate portrayal of reality Stephen Warwick / iMore : Apple told TV+ content creators not to paint China in a bad light EditorDavid / Slashdot : Apple Told Some Apple TV+ Show Developers Not To Anger China Gary Ng / iPhone in Canada Blog : Apple Told Apple TV+ Creators to Avoid Making China Look Bad in Shows: Report Rajesh Pandey / iPhone Hacks : Apple Told Apple TV+ Creators Not to Show China in Bad Light Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider : Apple told Apple TV+ content creators not to besmirch China, report says Peter Kafka / Vox : Apple cracked China when Facebook and Google couldn't. Now that's a problem for Apple. Sissi Cao / Observer : Apple CEO Tim Cook Gives Lame Explanation for Censoring Pro-Hong Kong Apps in China Scott Bicheno / Telecoms.com : The tensions within globalisation grow ever more strained Tweets: Judd Apatow / @juddapatow : Apple Told Some Apple TV+ Show Developers Not To Anger China- hey and don't mention that Turkey is bad. We sell a lot of watches there. And don't mention Saudi Arabia murdering journalists- they love the iMac and don't mention Russia—big iPad market. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... Mark Di Stefano / @markdistef : Such a significant story — How Apple's new TV streaming service told developers not to piss off China. ‘We thought trade would bring Western values to China. Instead, it brought Chinese values to Apple.’ https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... Josh Jordan / @numbersmuncher : South Park's portrayal of how content is made specifically to not offend China was spot on - it's insane how many companies are working on behalf of the Chinese government to silence voices here in America. https://twitter.com/... Lance R. Vick / @lrvick : Apple blocked multiple apps, handed over encryption keys, blocked the Taiwan flag emoji, and is now censoring anyone from saying anything bad about China on their TV network. Apple is now an arm of the Chinese government. Giving this company money is funding human rights abuse. https://twitter.com/... @humarisaac : Oh for fuck sake @Apple. I personally watched Apple Books Store had its glorious opening in China and got kicked out in less than a year. There's no way you can lick hard enough to make your shows land on China market. Cc @netflix https://twitter.com/... Ed Bott / @edbott : “Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers — the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently."* * Offer void where prohibited. https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Apple should just get back to being innovative in hardware and software again, instead of chasing services revenue that leads them into this Hollywood-style mess. It'll all end in tears. https://twitter.com/... Matthew Panzarino / @panzer : It's literally the Hollywood playbook. Every studio does the same. Movies are edited to appeal and not offend China. The culture clash is one of optics and interests. https://twitter.com/... Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : As bad as this makes Apple look, this is par for the course in Hollywood. Remember that both #IronMan3 and #TransformersAgeOfExtinction went as far as having scenes in set in China with no real relevance to the plot. Real question is why tech companies would want this drama? https://twitter.com/... Nilay Patel / @reckless : Apple, new to the media business, now has to quickly navigate a conflict of interest scandal at worldwide scale Nilay Patel / @reckless : This is an explosive allegation for Apple's move into news and entertainment https://twitter.com/... Patrick Beja / @notpatrick : This week's confluence of events is making us realize that our involvement with China isn't just a deal to change our behavior in China, but at home as well. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... Fabio Chiusi / @fabiochiusi : “an ironic inversion of a longstanding argument in the West that by bringing China into the world trade system, the country would adopt western values. Instead, China is asking tech companies to adopt its values — and Apple is willing to pay that price” https://www.buzzfeed.com/... Michael Ron Bowling / @mrbcyber : Some thought trade would bring Western values to China. Instead, it brought Chinese Communist Party values to Apple & a lot of other companies https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... via @kantrowitz Ryan Mac / @rmac18 : I imagine a world in which Apple didn't do this and Gwenyth and Gary Vee just had a competition to say the most offensive thing about Xi on Planet of the Apps Nilay Patel / @reckless : Apple's “lovable dads you can trust” executive image is quickly dissolving https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... Marco Arment / @marcoarment : Just as Apple wants no supplier or developer to have too much power over them, they shouldn't want any foreign government — especially THIS one — to have the level of control that China has over them. It's going to be hard. It's going to be expensive. But get out of China. Jack Murphy / @jackmurphylive : 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/... Ravi Hiranand / @ravi_hiranand : 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/... @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. Dr. Trey / @comparativist : This one angers me more than HKmaps ban. You can make edge case arguments about live maps and assisting illegality, but this was just a damn text-based RPG game some kids designed on @lihkg_forum to put people in the shoes of a Hong Kong protester. WTF, @Google 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/ ... 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/... Avi Asher-Schapiro / @aaschapiro : Apple has decided to remove the news website Quartz from the Chinese App Store. Quartz says its retaliation for its “ongoing coverage of the Hong Kong protests.” This is not new territory for Apple—they did the same thing to the New York Times in 2017. https://www.theverge.com/... Thanks: @kantrowitz See also Mediagazer