Apple Deactivates News App in China...Censoring News Content Already on Phone
Apple Is Said to Deactivate Its News App in China
By PAUL MOZUR and KATIE BENNER OCT. 10, 2015
HONG KONG — Apple has disabled its news app in China,
according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation, the most recent
sign of how difficult it can be for foreign companies to manage the strict
rules governing media and online expression there.
The Apple News app, which the company announced in June,
is available only to users in the United States, though it is being tested in
Britain and Australia. Customers who already downloaded the app by registering
their phones in the United States can still see content in it when they travel
overseas — but they have found that it does not work in China.
Those in China who look at the top of the Apple News feed,
which would normally display a list of selected articles based on a user’s
preferred media, instead see an error message: “Can’t refresh right now. News
isn’t supported in your current region.”
Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., declined to comment.
Greater China is now Apple’s second-largest source of
revenue after the United States, with sales of more than $13 billion in the
third quarter. That means the company is most likely taking a careful approach
to delivering new content, like that on its news app, within China.
Beijing generally insists that companies are responsible
for censoring sensitive content inside China. In Apple’s case, that would mean
it would probably have to develop a censorship system — most Chinese companies
use a combination of automated software and employees — to eliminate sensitive
articles from feeds.
For now, Apple seems to be avoiding the problem by
completely disabling the service for users in China.
Still, even if the company is moving carefully to appease
the government, the move is already troubling some users. Larry Salibra, an
entrepreneur who founded Pay4Bugs, a software testing service, pointed out the
issue last week on Twitter. In a written interview, Mr. Salibra said he found
what Apple was doing “very disconcerting.”
In a post on Reddit, Mr. Salibra went further, writing,
“They’re censoring news content that I downloaded and stored on my device
purchased in the USA, before I even enter China just because my phone happens
to connect to a Chinese signal floating over the border.”
“On device censorship is much different than having your
server blocked by the Great Firewall or not enabling a feature for customers
with certain country iTunes account,” his post continued. “That Apple has
little choice doesn’t make it any less creepy or outrageous.”
Paul Mozur reported from Hong Kong and Katie Benner from
San Francisco.
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