Apple Gives In to Chinese Government, Banning Police-Tracking App Used by HK Protesters

[Tsing]

Apple has drawn criticism for removing HKmap.live from its App Store, which was used by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong to monitor police movements via crowdsourcing. The decision was made shortly after Chinese news outlets accused Apple of criminality ("…Apple is mixing business with politics, and even illegal acts").

Tim Cook defended HKmap.live's removal in a letter sent to employees today. Cook said he made the decision based on information he received from Hong Kong law enforcement, who claimed the mapping app was "being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimise individuals and property where no police are present."

But Cook’s claims have been disputed by those on the ground, who argue the violations described don’t match up with what the app displays. Individual officers are not displayed on the map, an online version of which is still live: only large concentrations of police are shown, with the stated intention of allowing protesters to avoid rather than confront law enforcement.

 

[Brian_B]

My opinion::

I won't necessarily defend Apple, but if an Authority in your market tells you to do something, you probably should either comply or pull out of the marketplace.

Most businesses are not going to willingly volunteer to give up China as a marketplace.

It's not the place of Business to dictate government policies or be the morale compass for humanity. They exist to provide goods and services for profit.

For the record, I don't blame gun manufactures for shootings, tobacco companies for lung cancer, McDonalds for fat people, etc... they are only providing goods and services and other people are responsible their own actions.

 

[Zarathustra]

I wish we could make it a criminal offense for any U.S. Company or Person to take any action aiding a foreign oppressive government in the oppression of their people.