Apple’s China ties under Congressional scrutiny after Jon Stewart cancellation
arstechnica.com
Lawmakers demand that Apple commit to not censoring content critical of China.

Apple’s China ties under Congressional scrutiny after Jon Stewart cancellation | Lawmakers demand that Apple commit to not censoring content critical of China.::Lawmakers demand that Apple commit to not censoring content critical of China.

  • Snot FlickermanEnglish
    133•1 year ago

    Cool, cool, cool.

    And just Apple’s word and a pinkie swear is enough to trust that they won’t censor content for China?

    Wake the fuck up, Congress.

    Businesses don’t give one good god damn about democracy. They don’t give one good god damn about allegiances to one nation over another. They give a damn about money, so unless you plan on making Apple open up their fucking internal records and fucking show you that they’re not capitulating to China or anyone else, you can bet your ass they are.

    How do all these fucking self-professed capitalists on Capitol Hill not understand how capitalism works?

    EDIT: I want to make clear, this isn’t meant to be a “China BAD” post. It’s a “You can’t trust people whose bottom line is always money” post. Who they capitulate to is less important than the fact that they’re willing to toss out morals and ethics for money.

    • @Wrench@lemmy.worldEnglish
      19•1 year ago

      How is this any different from networks firing hosts / pulling content because sponsors threaten to pull their ads?

      I’m fully on the “fuck corps that cave to China’s childish demands” side. I’m still boycotting Blizzard after the Free HK scandal.

      But I think it’s their choice to capitulate for access to China’s market, and it’s my choice to stop doing business with them as a result. I don’t think it’s the government’s place to essentially tell a company they can’t do business in China, unless it’s literally a national security thing like electronics with Spyware / backdoors.

    • @gsfraley@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13•1 year ago

      I’ll make the “China bad” post. There are very few governments with an ego as fragile as China’s. It barely even makes sense since they have the weight and soft power to lead by example, or develop healthy ties with the rest of the world. But they just. Don’t. It really gives the impression that all is not well within their borders.

    • @AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      Apple would no doubt prefer to have its cake and eat it too—keep the show and its revenue without facing retaliation from the CCP. If Congress gives them a plausible excuse to do that, why wouldn’t they?

    • @abhibeckert@lemmy.worldEnglish
      -11•1 year ago

      And just Apple’s word and a pinkie swear is enough to trust that they won’t censor content for China?

      Probably not, no. But before smashing down the door guns blazing… how about a polite knock on the door and a few simple questions?

      Doesn’t mean you trust the answers, but it’s worth asking first. Because they might have an answer you weren’t expecting such as “yeah I’m pretty sure it was the house next door that had screams coming out of it half an hour ago… whoever called 911 gave you the wrong address”.

      Maybe they cancelled the show because nobody was watching it, and the fact an episode china might not have linked was just a coincidence.

        • fmstratEnglish
          6•1 year ago

          Yea… I mean, Apple TV is not a cash cow. But iPhones on the other hand…

          Lawmakers wrote that Cook’s “recent trip to Beijing” makes it appear as if “maintaining a positive relationship with the CCP may be a priority given ongoing supply chain and financial dependencies.”