Thread. Thanks in part to Apple, American media outlets are treating this Hong Kong online map like it's some radioactive tool for terrorism that must never be linked.
It's a Saturday evening in Hong Kong, the perfect time to check it out for yourself. Open Google translate in one tab and spend a few minutes forming your own opinion. hkmap.live
In my neighborhood, the map is telling me that a number of exits to the Yau Ma Tei MTR station are closed off 
In Yuen Long, you can see reports of police vehicle activity. The color coding indicates recency (red the most recent).
A mall sing-along is taking place in Sha Tin and you can see reports of safe routes (house icon) people can take to avoid being arbitrarily stopped and searched by police surrounding the mall. Remember it's Saturday and lots of people just want to get around their own city.
The camera icons in the bay link to aggregated live streams of protest events like this one, another way of keeping people safe: ncehk2019.github.io/nce-live/. The dinosaur icon represents the "raptors", specially trained black-clad riot police who are especially aggressive
If you followed my thread this far, congratulations! You learned far more than Tim Cook ever did before he called this site a tool for attacking isolated police officers, destroying property, and accused it of breaking a Hong Kong law that no one seems able to point to
If you work at Apple, know that your CEO lied to you about the reasons for banning a public safety app in Hong Kong, and in the process unjustly slandered pro-democracy Hong Kong demonstrators as violent criminals. Please speak up on their behalf; don't be silent!
When I say he lied, it's not because I have a different opinion of the protests than Mr. Cook. It's because the Hong Kong authorities he cites as the reason for banning the app have contracticted his claims in two press conferences, and referred all further questions to Apple.
Mr. Cook said the app violates the law; Hong Kong government spokespeople were unable to name any law the app broke. A Hong Kong legislator, @charlesmok, wrote to Mr. Cook to request him to reverse his decision. Legislators presumably know Hong Kong law very well
@charlesmok Mr. Cook asserted that the app had been used to target violent attacks against individual police. The Hong Kong police subsequently said they were worried the app "could be used" for such attacks, since they are well aware such an attack has never happened.
@charlesmok Even if you think the Hong Kong protesters are in the wrong, and side with the police, the fact remains that Tim Cook misled employees about Apple's reasons for bending to foreign political pressure in what was supposed to be a confidential internal communication.
@charlesmok A timely example—seconds ago, this map shows me that black, blue and red flags went up outside Prince Edward MTR station. If a passenger gets out at that station, they can be tear gassed, shot, imprisoned 5 years for illegal assembly, and another year if they are wearing a mask.
@charlesmok Ask yourself, was this an app for targeting police and vandalism, or was it a way for people to not walk out of the subway into surprise tear gas and rubber bullets in one of the most densely populated cities on earth?
