Apple’s burgeoning slate of digital subscription services are blocked by China’s authoritarian government.
When it comes to many of Apple Inc.’s latest services, iPhone users in China are missing out. Podcast choices are paltry. Apple TV+ is off the air. News subscriptions are blocked, and Arcade gaming is nowhere to be found… Apple services such as the App Store, digital books, news, video, podcasts and music, put the company in the more precarious position of information provider (or at least overseer), exposing it to a growing online crackdown by China’s authoritarian government…
Many paid offerings that help Apple generate recurring revenue from its devices aren’t available in the country. That includes four new services that Apple announced this year: TV+ video streaming, the Apple Card, Apple Arcade and the News+ subscription. Other well-known Apple services can’t be accessed in the country either, including the iTunes Store, iTunes Movie rentals, Apple Books and the Apple TV and Apple News apps…
The company has been forced to remove several apps from the App Store in China, including The New York Times and Quartz news apps… Apple has also pulled hundreds of VPN apps that helped users evade China’s Great Firewall… one of Apple’s App Store decisions sparked a rare rebuke from the People’s Daily, a mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party. Apple was excoriated by the newspaper for approving an app called HKmap.live that let users monitor Hong Kong police activity to stay safe in the midst of democracy protests in the city… Soon after, Apple removed the app, saying it violated local laws and endangered law enforcement.
MacDailyNews Take: What an awful catch-22 Apple has built for itself!
The bottom line is that the Chinese government is so deathly afraid of its own citizens that they’re (quixotically) trying to keep them from being exposed to new ideas, fearful that one day they’ll think for themselves. Wonder why? (smirk)
When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie. ― Yevgeny Yevtushenko
A word to the unwise.
Torch every book.
Char every page.
Burn every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear. — Ellen Hopkins
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Apple/Tim, cannot placate a dictatorship, though I suspect most democrats are just fine with it.
Get off of your hyperpartisan high horse! No one, including the U.S. Federal Government and the governments of other countries across the world, have had any significant success in influencing the behavior of the Chinese government. And I doubt that you will find many people in the U.S., regardless of political affiliation, who approve of the current Chinese government. So you would be doing everyone a favor by ceasing to bleat the GOP BS.
The question that I have is why some people seem to expect Apple to fix this situation and shoulder the blame for failing to take a suicidal corporate stand? Are you blaming Google or Dell or other tech companies from sourcing their manufacturing in China? Are you blaming McDonalds from importing billions of useless plastic toys and plastic bead-filled Pound Puppies from China? Are you blaming yourself for consuming a wide variety of imported goods, from clothing to consumer electronics to household appliances?
Many people like to claim American superiority. Well, from my experience, few people today embody the spirit of the early pioneers or the founders of our republic who risked hardship and their very lives to provide us with the opportunities that we enjoy today. Our ancestors understood sacrifice. We understand privilege. Our ancestors understood morals and ethics and honor. We understand greed and hypocrisy and a victim mentality.
Either do something about the injustices in this world, or get out of the way of the people who are working to improve this world. Your complaining and whining and meaningless drivel are just a distraction.
How can I add more than five stars to a post?
Well done!
China isn’t communist any more. It’s fascist and using modern tech to bolster its version of the Gestapo.
Kowtow harder, Timmy, while you rake in millions and adorn your office the human rights awards, you spineless hypocrite.
I really think this type of insulting words don’t belong here. You should be ashamed and you know you can only do it because you can post under a false name, you coward.
Hey, Gary, what exactly is untrue about what “It’s Past Time for a New Apple CEO” wrote?
Everything.
Sure must suck to live in that country. China SUCKS! My new motto! Kiddies please note: Socialist and communist countries are not nice to live in. That is your history lesson for today.
In Italy it is practically the same as in China: Apple News does not exist, Apple TV does not support Channels, TV Shows, searches between applications, Siri and many streaming services do not work in Italy, even for Italian content. So please Apple put more effort into making your services international. Outside the United States, about internationalization, Google dominates! It’s amazing how Apple looks incapable or sluggish by comparison. Crazy!