Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers the keynote address during a special event on September 10, 2019 in the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple's Cupertino, California campus.
Apple on Wednesday removed an app that protesters in Hong Kong have used to track police movements from its app store, saying it violated rules because it was used to ambush police.
The U.S. tech giant had come under fire from China over the app, with the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper calling the app "poisonous" and decrying what it said was Apple's complicity in helping the Hong Kong protesters.
Apple rejected the crowdsourcing app, HKmap.live, earlier this month but then reversed course last week.
Apple said in a statement that it had began an immediate investigation after "many concerned customers in Hong Kong" contacted the company about the app and Apple found it had endangered law enforcement and residents.
"The app displays police locations and we have verified with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau that the 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," the statement said.
Apple did not comment beyond its statement, and the app's developer did not immediately have a comment on the removal.
Hong Kong police had no immediate comment.
lebbe on October 10th, 2019 at 04:28 UTC »
Business Hall of Bootlickers
Activision Blizzard: banned player for supporting HK democracy protest. Confiscated all his winnings. Fired his interviewers. Apologized to China: condemned incident, swore to defend China's national dignity
Apple: censor Taiwan flag emoji in iOS in HK
Apple: banned HK protest map from App Store. Approved app after backlash. Banned app once again after China hissy fit
Apple: removed from China App Store news app that covered HK protest
Vans: censor pro-HK democracy design in its shoe design competition
NBA (partial entry): rebuked Rockets manager for his pro-HK tweet, saying NBA was "extremely disappointed with Morey's inappropriate comment." Backpedalled after backlash, now saying they support Morey's freedom of speech.
Disney / ESPN: forbid mention of Chinese politics when discussing Rockets manager's HK tweet
Viacom / Paramount: censor Taiwan flag from the jacket worn by Tom Cruise in new "Top Gun" movie
Disney / Marvel: censored Tibetan monk from "Doctor Strange" & turned him into white woman. Movie screenwriter: "if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place & that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bullshit".
ASICS, Calvin Klein, Coach, Fresh, Givenchy, Pocari Sweat, Valentino, Versace, Swarovski: details here
Marriott: apologized & changed "Taiwan" to "Taiwan, China" after China threw a hissy fit
Nike: removed Houston Rockets products from China webstore
Activision Blizzard: cut livestream when American U team held up pro-HK sign.
Apple: handed over iCloud data & encryption keys to China
Cathay Pacific: fired employees for FB posts supporting HK protests.
Apple: minimized the seriousness of iOS exploits that enabled China to track Uyghurs, when 1M+ of them are rounded up by China in concentration camps
Google: censored pro-HK game "The Revolution of Our Times" from Google Play because it was about a "sensitive event".
Gap: apologized for selling T-shirts IN CANADA that didn't include Taiwan as part of China
Tiffany: removed tweet showing model covering 1 eye after China accused it of supporting HK
Marriott: fired employee who liked tweet from Tibetan group
Mercedes: apologized for quoting Dalai Lama on Instagram
American, Delta, United: deleted mention of Taiwan as a country from websites
Audi: apologized for using "incorrect" map of China that left off Taiwan
Muji: destroyed store catalogs that contain "incorrect" map of China
Zara: apologized for listing Taiwan as country
Medtronic: apologized for publishing "illegal content" that listed "Republic of China (Taiwan)" as country
Ray-Ban: changed "Taiwan" & "Hongkong" to "China Taiwan" & "China Hongkong"
Qantas, Air France, Air Canada, British Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA: changed "Taiwan" to "Taiwan China"
TikTok: censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, Falun Gong
Sheraton: banned Taiwan National Day event under China pressure
Disney: removed non-white characters from Chinese poster of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Philly Sixers: ejected fans for supporting HK
Princeton: don't talk about 3 Ts: Tibet, Tiananmen, Taiwan
Leica: released ad on Tiananmen protest. Apologized & distanced itself from ad
Reddit: took $150M from Tencent. Removed thread like this
Rockhampton, Queensland: censored Taiwan flag in student project
Cisco: helped build Great Firewall including module to persecute Falun Gong
MGM: changed Red Dawn's villain from China to N Korea to placate China
Global Blue: fired staff for calling Taiwan a country
L'Oréal / Lancôme: canceled HK artist concert for her pro-democracy activism
US universities: self-censor in fear of offending China
Disney: block Winnie the Pooh website in HK
After decades of opening up Western market to China while turning a blind eye to rampant Chinese IP thefts, forced tech transfers, & protectionism, we are looking at widespread control of Western firms by China. Firms that are not under outright Chinese control still kowtow to China out of fear of China's retaliation.
This is a very incomplete list of what we're seeing publicly. Imagine how bad it is behind closed doors.
Business Hall of Backbones
Matt Stone & Trey Parker: South Park "Band in China"
Ubisoft: listened to fans, said no to China after initially saying they would tone down game content to be China-compliant.
Prague: cancel partnership with Beijing over 1-China principle
Immutable: offer to repay banned gamer's winnings that was confiscated by Blizzard, got cyber attacked as a result
OhwordforReal on October 10th, 2019 at 03:12 UTC »
FOOKIN KNEELERS
amarriedguylearning on October 10th, 2019 at 03:11 UTC »
For as social responsible Apple likes to say they are, they are really not. To them it is about the money which means cheap Chinese labor so they can not upset their partner in crime, the Chinese government