In an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, A prominent Hong Kong lawmaker and IT entrepreneur, Charles Mok, has warned Apple of becoming “an accomplice for Chinese censorship and oppression.”
Charlie Wood for BusinessInsider:
Charles Mok, who represents the Information Technology functional constituency on the Hong Kong Legislative Council, made the comments in an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Mok’s letter focused on Apple’s recent decision to remove an app called HKmap.live, which allows its users to track Hong Kong police presence.
We Hongkongers will definitely look closely at whether Apple chooses to uphold its commitment to free expression and other basic human rights, or become an accomplice for Chinese censorship and oppression. — Charles Mok
After censure from US lawmakers and the press, Tim Cook defended the app’s removal on Thursday in a memo sent to Apple employees. In particular, Cook said the app was being used to cause unwarranted violence. Critics say this is a Chinese state talking point.
Today I wrote to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, to tell him his company’s decision to remove HKmap live app from Appstore will cause problems for normal Hong Kong’s citizens trying to avoid police presence while they are under constant fear ofpolice brutality. Values over profits, pls! pic.twitter.com/guaBfV8Pnf
— Charles Mok 莫乃光 (@charlesmok) October 10, 2019
MacDailyNews Take: Regardless of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s rather pathetic kowtowing to China, the HKmap 即時地圖 app is not a requirement for accessing the HKmap Live service as it remains available online to Hongkongers and everyone here: https://hkmap.live
• The Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it. — John Perry Barlow
• The most important thing is: Do you have the courage to admit that you’re wrong? And do you change? The most important thing to me as a CEO is that we keep the courage. — Tim Cook