Apple bends the knee. As I've tweeted before, this map app is an essential safety tool for residents. It contravenes no local law. Apple recognized that the first time they lifted their ban. The company has acted shamefully here
The claim that this app is endangering police and residents is especially loathsome. Here's a not-so-contrived example: Hong Kong is under a face mask ban right now. If you round a corner to where police have raised a blue flag ("illegal assembly") wearing a mask, you face 1 year
Police declare illegal assembly through colored flags; it's a relic of British rule. They threaten to fire rubber bullets or tear gas the same way. Police want people to know a flag has been raised, so you disperse. The app shows you where the flags have been raised!
The city has now been routinely shutting down MTR service, requiring alternate transport. The map shows you where there are demonstrators and police, so maybe you don't bring your small kids through an active protest where there might be tear gas. It fucking KEEPS PEOPLE SAFE
Apple has discretion about its monopoly app store, of course, but here they are simply lying. Who gave them this information? What was the decision-making process that led them to accept and then rebroadcast what are bare-faced lies about a key safety tool in Hong Kong?
AirDrop is heavily used for information sharing in the Hong Kong protests, so Apple should go ahead and ban the iPhone here as being used in ways that "endanger police and residents". Or auto-forward AirDropped content to the Chinese security bureau, for safety.
I should clarify that in my face mask ban example, it's absolutely legal to wear a mask around the city, but illegal to do so at whatever place or moment the police decide, in their full discretion. That's pretty important information to have in a culture where masks are routine
Apple's decision doesn't take HKmap offline (it's a web app too, you can check it out here: hkmap.live). But at a moment when the Hong Kong government is considering censoring the Internet by emergency decree, it removes a vital backup
"Kowtow" is a word English borrowed from Cantonese speakers so it could apparently use it to sell them out
I think the Apple logo needs a redesign to add Chinese characteristics. What have you got for me, Twitter?
