Apple Allegedly TOLD Hong Kong And Russia Not To Lose Their Market

Apple is thought to be subject to two countries as its biggest market, (photo: dock. apple)

JAKARTA - Apple is allegedly subject to two countries as its biggest markets, Hong Kong, China and Russia by choosing advantages over human rights.

The tech giant, claimed to have censored VPN and LGBTQ+ applications in each country, to ensure that Apple still has access to the market. Indicating, Apple is heavily subject to demands by authoritarian censorship.

The report comes from Apps at Risk: Apple's Censorship and Compromises in Hong Kong and United Apple: Apple's Censorship and Compromises in Russia, which was released by the group advocacy for GreatFire's free speech.

The project concluded that the company failed to enforce its users' rights to freely access information and express their views online.

"On behalf of profits, Apple censors millions of users from all aspects of society, from activists and political figures to vulnerable minority members such as the LGBTQ+ community in Russia or religion and ethnic minorities in China," said director of the Apple Censorship project, Benjamin Ismail.

Apple's temporary withdrawal from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine, and Apple's decision to move some of its production out of China, has not provided clear evidence of a fix to the situation on the App Store so far. As far as we know, Apple is still willing to collaborate with a repressive regime."

Ismail hopes the report will be used to try to convince lawmakers to pass antitrust laws, which aim to reduce the strength of App Store gatekeepers.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong-focused Apps at Risk report argues that Apple's 50 percent smartphone market share makes it a de facto-breaking button for the Chinese Communist Party for politically challenging content.

It was noted that the Hong Kong App Store in November 2022 lost 2,370 applications. On the Chinese App Store itself, 10,837 applications are missing and on the Russian App Store, 2,754 applications are missing.

It is found that many VPN applications have disappeared from the Hong Kong App Store. Over the past two years, it is claimed that many media and information applications have been removed globally, increasing the possibility of Apple being involved in self-censorship worldwide or doing so on behalf of the authorities.

"Apple has known about Beijing's authoritarian preferences for decades. Apple's response is in line with its global business strategy, with top priorities calming the Chinese government to protect Apple's supply chains, distribution channels and revenues," the Apps at Risk report said.

With this report, Apple is expected to openly affirm its support for the human rights of Hong Kong citizens for information and freedom of expression.

Lebih lanjut melansir Forbes, Jumat, 23 Desember, di bagian laporan Rusia, terdapat eksplorasi perbedaan cara otoritas Rusia dan China menegakkan tuntutan sensor, tetapi mencapai kesempatan serupa tentang cara Apple beroperasi. Ditampaikan, dari 2018 hingga 2022, Apple tampaknya lebih mudah mematuhi permintaan sensor dari Kremlin.

"Innovative and extensive Russian prosecution has also led to censorship in software (LGTQ+ clock performances), accessories (LGTQ+ watch styles), software-based cartography (Krimea), protocols (Personal OUTages), and even iOS designs (Russian iOS)," said the App at Risk report.

Ismail warned that the influence of authorities in China and Russia on Apple would remain. According to him, the relationship between the regime and Apple is still asymmetric.

"(Apple) strongly supports the country's government where Apple wants to maintain its access to the market, build and sell its products," said Ismail.

"Maybe it's time for Apple to consider the possibility of being more dangerous in China than not being there," he added.