Apple users in China find that the Apple News app is being blocked, even if their device was registered in the U.S., but not by the Chinese government's master firewall, rather by Apple itself. Several china-based American entrepreneurs were shocked recently when they discovered that their news was being censored. But what is most shocking is that it is Apple doing this, and not the government. Although Apple has yet to comment about the issue, they are probably doing this to appease the Chinese government and retain their access to the market in China.
I find it interesting that Apple so readily agreed to Chinese law even though they are a U.S. based organization where the freedom of speech, guaranteed in the second amendment to the constitution, is common-place. China's censorship is kind of like the Alien and Sedition Acts in that they filter news to make sure that nothing negative is said about their government in an effort to solidify and justify their power. In a time when many here would still like to spread complete democracy and liberty to all parts of the globe, I think it's cool how Apple took the initiative to respect a country's laws that they probably didn't agree with.
I understand that this is blocking freedom of speech but technically we came up with that, not all countries have the same rights for their citizens as we do. You also have to remember that China is a communist country and want to keep their citizens somewhat brainwashed from the real world but they also has the most population. For Apple to be banned from China because the government disliked them giving access to to their citizens about world problems and learning what's best for them would be a huge profit loss for Apple. So they probably limited the available information to appease the government (like you said) and continue sales in China.
ReplyDeleteShelby Linker, 8th period