The Technology Transparency Project (TTP), an affiliate of the nonprofit watchdog group Campaign for Accountability (CfA), released an investigative report on Dec. 23 questioning Apple’s self-censorship and its initiative to remove politically sensitive apps from its China App Store in order to maintain its relationship with the Chinese government.
“The Tech Transparency Project’s report shows that there are 3,257 missing apps in the Apple App Store in China. Missing apps are apps that are commonly found in the Apple App Store in other countries, but not in the Chinese App Store.
Of these missing apps, 964 are related to politically sensitive areas, including religion, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, secure communications, cryptographic digital currency, VPNs, homosexuality, social media platforms, and foreign media.
Apple has previously admitted to taking down certain apps that “violate Chinese laws” at the request of the Chinese government, the majority of which are pornography and gambling apps. However, a survey by the Tech Transparency Project found that only 157 of the apps missing from Apple’s China App Store were related to pornography and gambling, less than 5 percent of the total.
In addition, Apple publishes a “Transparency Report” twice a year to announce the number of apps it has pulled at the request of governments. The Tech Transparency Project reports that the number of missing apps in the Chinese App Store far exceeds the number published by Apple in its Transparency Report. The group believes that this proves that some apps were “actively” taken down by Apple in order to maintain its relationship with the Chinese government.
“Apple does not disclose the apps it actively blocks from the China App Store, so it’s hard to know why certain apps are missing and how many of them are included in Apple’s transparency reports,” the Tech Transparency Project report reads. In some cases, it was app developers who chose not to launch to the Chinese market. But the nearly 1,000 apps verified by the Tech Transparency Project all cover politically sensitive topics that are often censored in China, suggesting that Apple may be actively blocking them.”
Apple’s Transparency Report revealed that the company removed 805 apps at the request of the Chinese government between July 2018 and June 2019.
“The Tech Transparency Project report said, “Countries outside of China rarely ask Apple to remove apps on a large scale, and from July 2018 to June 2019, the U.S. did not ask for any apps to be removed. Of the 96 countries included in Apple’s transparency report, 10 other governments requested app removals during the same period – none of them to the extent that China did. Coming in behind China was the United Arab Emirates, who made 275 take-down requests, and one was taken down.”
Apple has often been criticized for its role in the Chinese government’s censorship of information. In September, Apple issued a human rights policy that emphasized the company’s commitment to “building an open society where information flows freely.” The policy did not mention China, but it followed a shareholder protest in which more than 40 percent of Apple’s shareholders demanded that the company release details of China’s restrictions on free speech on Apple products.
Apple voiced strong opposition when the Trump administration issued bans on WeChat and Tiktok.
“If Apple chooses to soften its opposition to censorship, it should be transparent about the decision in order to compete in the Chinese market,” said Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability. It is opportunistic to promote positive corporate values only where they are accepted.”
At press time, Apple had not responded to a request from Voice of America for comment on the Accountability Campaign’s investigative report.
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