In China, the App Store is censored; Apple should expose exactly how – WaPo

A new report by internet freedom advocates Greatfire.org and Article 19 exposes limited app availability in China’s App Store, likely due to government censorship. A new editorial says that the company should expose exactly how China is censoring it’s App Store in the country.
The Washington Post Editorial Board:
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China’s App Store is the most isolated in the world. According to the new report, of the 108 most downloaded apps worldwide, 55 are not available in China and nine more are available but blocked by the Chinese authorities, rendering them nonfunctional in China, including: Google Maps, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Messenger, Twitter (now X) and WhatsApp Business. The report also found that of the top 10 most downloaded apps worldwide, none are accessible to Chinese users: Five are not in the App Store, and five are downloadable but blocked.
Virtual private networks, which allow users inside China to penetrate the Great Firewall and access the internet outside China, are a major category of unavailable apps in China. VPNs must be approved by the state, the new report says. Apple purged the major VPNs from the App Store in 2017. Also unavailable in the App Store are privacy and digital security apps, which offer services such as secure browsing, encryption, protection against cyberthreats and mobile security. A third hard-to-find group is social media and communication apps, which are either unavailable or blocked…
Apple says it must follow local laws in China, even those with which it disagrees, and that it is determined to remain engaged in China, a vital market. But Apple could be more transparent about China’s direct requests for app takedowns from the App Store. Right now, Apple lists the totals but does not say which apps China tried to remove. Casting some sunshine on this information would be a useful step toward fulfilling the company’s declared commitment to openness.

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MacDailyNews Take: Former United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said it best: “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.”
China is critical for Apple in every way from sales to product assembly, so Apple continues to kowtow to China. With Apple’s strong stance – in other places of the world – on users’ rights and privacy, it’s a bad look for the company and a tough tightrope that Tim Cook is trying to walk. — MacDailyNews, July 29, 2017
Apple should work to diversify production so as to not be beholden and utterly dependent upon a single country led by autocratic fools… – MacDailyNews, April 27, 2022
See also:
• Tim Cook firmly latched Apple onto China’s CCP teat. What’s his plan for weaning it off? – November 2, 2022
• The clock has struck midnight in China for Apple – December 6, 2022
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