Apple pulls podcast apps Pocket Casts and Castro from the App Store in China after China's government determined they can be used to access “illegal” content
The Verge Sam Byford
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Discussion
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@pocketcasts
@pocketcasts
on x
@hakusaro We were contacted by the CAC through Apple around 2 days before the app was removed from the store.
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@overcastfm
Overcast
on x
I haven't been contacted about the Apple-China censorship of podcast apps, but Overcast's servers have been blocked in China for years, so it already didn't work. I've never tried to get unblocked. I will never cooperate with a government to censor podcasts from their people. htt…
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@cedricbastin
@cedricbastin
on x
This is very concerning! Does @ApplePodcasts, @Castbox_fm and @OvercastFM use a blacklist of RSS feeds for China, or are they also not available in that market? https://twitter.com/...
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@malinowski
Tom Malinowski
on x
I just spoke to Zoom executives about this. They've promised never again to let Chinese censorship affect users outside China. That's good, but I have questions I'll continue to raise. What about Hong Kong? When should a US-based company be responsible for enforcing Chinese law? …
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@greatfirechina
@greatfirechina
on x
This is a worrying trend. Apple has no problem removing apps at the request of the Chinese authorities (almost 3000 in China alone!) but why do they think it necessary to act as a go-between / messenger / negotiator / babysitter between CAC and app developers? @applecensorship ht…
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@greatfirechina
@greatfirechina
on x
When Apple says that “194 apps were removed in China for legal reasons” they tell the general public that these are mainly gambling and porn apps. In truth, they remove anything the Chinese authorities ask them to remove. @applecensorship https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@abolitionof
@abolitionof
on x
@pocketcasts I love your app and thank you for taking this stance. The influence and power of China must be curtailed.
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@markgurman
Mark Gurman
on x
A pair of Podcast apps were removed from the App Store by Apple at China's request: Pocket Casts and Castro. This comes months after Apple's own Podcasts app, which still works in China, was limited https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@emilyywu
Emily Y. Wu
on x
Pocket Casts removed from China's @Apple Store bc they refuse to censor on behalf of CCP. We at @ghostislandme will be encouraging our listeners to use @pocketcasts. https://twitter.com/...
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@suka_hiroaki
Andreas Proschofsky
on x
It's mind-blowing to me how little criticism Apple gets for their highly problematic relationship to China. Censoring for the chinese regime, basically handing over iCloud access to them. And none of their oh so privacy sensitive users seem to care. https://twitter.com/...
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@smc90
Sonal Chokshi
on x
I've tried many pod apps, natch, but Pocket Casts is the one that has lasted for me (Android user); now am not just a pleased user but also a proud user! https://twitter.com/...