U.S. Lawmakers Call Apple's Move to Remove HKMap Live App 'Deeply Concerning'

[MacRumors]

U.S lawmakers on Friday sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook expressing concern over Apple's decision to remove the HKMap Live app from the App Store after complaints from the Chinese Government.

The letter [PDF] calls Apple's removal of the HKMap Live app "disappointing" and points out a prior quote from Tim Cook that reads "At Apple, we are not afraid to say that our values drive our curation decisions."

The HKMap Live app, which was used by protestors in Hong Kong to crowdsource information about street closures and police presence, was pulled from the App Store in early October.

Apple later reversed course and approved the app, allowing it back into the App Store, but after China accused Apple of "protecting rioters," Apple removed the app once again and it has remained unavailable.

According to U.S lawmakers, the HKMap Live app lets peaceful demonstrators to share locations to keep out of harm's way. Apple, says the letter, has also censored "at least 2200 apps in China," including VPN apps and apps made by and for "oppressed ethnic minorities."

The letter goes on to accuse Apple of complicity in China's efforts to block change, and questions whether Apple is willing to bow to Chinese demands to avoid losing access to Chinese consumers.

You have said publicly that you want to work with China's leaders to effect change rather than sit on the sidelines and yell at them. We, too, believe that diplomacy and trade can be democratizing forces. But when a repressive government refuses to evolve, or, indeed, when it double down, cooperation can become complicity.

The Chinese government is growing more aggressive in its attempts to dictate terms to U.S. corporations, as last week's headlines involving Apple, the National Basketball Association, and Activision Blizzard make clear. Cases like these raise real concern about whether Apple and other large U.S corporate entities will bow to growing Chinese demands rather than lose access to more than a billon Chinese consumers.

When the app was pulled for the final time, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Apple employees that based on "credible information" from Hong Kong police, the app was being used to target individual officers for violence.

It is no secret that technology can be used for good or for ill. This case is no different. The app in question allowed for the crowdsourced reporting and mapping of police checkpoints, protest hotspots, and other information. On its own, this information is benign. However, over the past several days we received credible information, from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, as well as from users in Hong Kong, that the app was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimize individuals and property where no police are present. This use put the app in violation of Hong Kong law. Similarly, widespread abuse clearly violates our ?App Store? guidelines barring personal harm.

The letter from the lawmakers ends by urging Apple to reverse course and re-allow the HKMaps on the App Store.

In promoting values, as in most things, actions matter far more than words. Apple's decisions last week to accommodate the Chinese government by taking down HKMaps is deeply concerning. We urge you in the strongest terms to reverse course, to demonstrate that Apple puts values above market access, and to stand with the brave men and women fighting for basic rights and dignity in Hong Kong.

The letter was written by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Sen. Maro Rubio, R-Fla., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., and Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J. A similar letter was also sent to Blizzard following Blizzard's decision to ban Ng Wai Chung, a Hearthstone player who voiced support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: U.S. Lawmakers Call Apple's Move to Remove HKMap Live App 'Deeply Concerning'

 

[brinary001]

Because it is concerning...

 

[Andronicus]

Glad to see this is getting bipartisan support.

 

[e-coli]

Trump's horrifying corruption and abuses of power? Not so much.

 

[dumastudetto]

Politicians need to stay out of this. Apple makes its own free market decisions, and Republicans are supposed to be on our side.

 

[Mutepointer]

Any company using censorship as a tool, will eventually crumble. As it’s Apple, it will dry up.

 

[omihek]

iMessage has been used by criminals to plan and coordinate with each other to commit horrible crimes. If Apple allows (forces) iMessage to remain on our phones after it has been used for such horrifying actions, they must allow HKMap Live to remain as well...

 

[Classie]

I still think it’s a complicated matter, but is now leaning more towards my general feeling of: when in doubt, chose the path that f**ks with China!

 

[DipDog3]

It’s all about the ¥¥¥

 

[OriginalMacRat]

Because it is concerning...

But if it was an ISIS app being removed, you wouldn't mind at all.

 

[ilikewhey]

That app has been used by the more extreme rioters to avoid police and vandalize train stations and shopping mall, there are a lot of criminal stuffs the western media doesn’t show or even mention and only cast the protestors in good spotlight

 

[Khedron]

That app has been used by the more extreme rioters to avoid police and vandalize train stations and shopping mall, there are a lot of criminal stuffs the western media doesn’t show or even mention

People have used social media apps like Twitter and Facebook to bully and abuse people to death

Please ban immediately Tim

 

[calzon65]

Pathetic … Apple might as well stop selling it's iPhone, iPads, Notebooks, suspend iCloud, iMessage, etc., because I'm sure those products/services are and/or have been used by so-called "bad people".

 

[WiiDSmoker]

Tim is nothing but a giant hypocrite

 

[BGPL]

Don't know why it's shocking that Apple caved to to the Chinese government. Everything Apple does is for the bottom line dollar, nothing else. If they lose the support of the Chinese government, they could potentially lose a HUGE marketshare.

 

[nutmac]

Let's bring out the elephant in the room.

Does US government expect companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft to violate the local laws by allowing products, services, or contents in violation?

It's all too easy to criticize businesses but at the end of the day, they are required to follow the rules and bound by investors to run a successful business.

The same goes for Facebook. It's easy to criticize Facebook for this and that. But shouldn't US government pass a law to ban untruthful political ads? For that matter, why is that US residents cannot stop politicians spamming our phones and email with political ads?

 

[BGPL]

That app has been used by the more extreme rioters to avoid police and vandalize train stations and shopping mall, there are a lot of criminal stuffs the western media doesn’t show or even mention and only cast the protestors in good spotlight

I don't know that anyone is disagreeing with that. I think the problem is Apple's hypocrisy, there are other situations that have been just as damaging to citizens and/or governments, and Apple hasn't stepped in. But when it happens to a country that controls what products their people buy/use/sell, all of the sudden they take an interest and intervene... and they take the side that works best for them long term. They simply can't slight the Chinese government. Tim is probably over there kissing the ring once a month.

 

[lixuelai]

Apple barely has any leverage. NBA and Blizzard have even less. Might as well just tell them all to pack their bags.

Statement like these just put the blame on U.S. companies without providing them any solutions. In the past leverage is needed at the national level. However most of the leverage that can be exerted at the national level is already being used for the trade war. Anyway purely political brownie points.

 

[b11051973]

It's simple. Companies care more about what the Chinese government thinks than what any other government thinks. The US might have crazy politicians, but they're not going to block Apple from doing business. China could pull the plug on Apple, and any other company, for the slightest reason. Companies can handle the US government being disappointed in them, but they can't handle China being disappointed in them.

 

[Saipher]

iMessage has been used by criminals to plan and coordinate with each other to commit horrible crimes. If Apple allows (forces) iMessage to remain on our phones after it has been used for such horrifying actions, they must allow HKMap Live to remain as well...

lol what?! Apple doesn’t “force” you to use iMessage. You are more then welcome to use third party messaging apps that are available, and you argument is nonsensical to say the least. Swords are used to kill people therefore we should ban all knives. Phones are used to make illegal transactions, lets ban all phones. Lol

 

[hagar]

What else should Apple do? Block the app and get banned from China? What good will that do for democracy? Companies should follow the law. Unless they have enough leverage to make a difference for the good. Which Apple, as a US company does not have.

 

[Rocko99991]

Tim 'bang the moral gavel' Cook is obedient to his masters.

 

[LeeW]

Apples only interest was shareholders.

 

[Khedron]

That app has been used by the more extreme rioters to avoid police and vandalize train stations and shopping mall, there are a lot of criminal stuffs the western media doesn’t show or even mention and only cast the protestors in good spotlight

Oh no not the shopping mall. Please let's suspend all human rights until these terrorists have been dealt with.

 

[gnipgnop]

At the end of the day, the U.S. government wants the United States to do business and trade with China despite the fact that it's an authoritarian government that is known to crack down on any type of dissent. Tiananmen Square happened 30 years and look what happened to all the protestors in that situation. Did that cause the U.S. to 2nd guess economic involvement? No, so IMO that kind of all-or-nothing ship sailed a long time ago. I don't have a problem with people from Congress providing their opinion on the matter, but ultimately everyone knows China will continue to act this way. It's not anything new. There's no reason to expect Apple to fall on the sword over this app availability. It's a bit much.