Last week, Apple rejected and then approved a mapping app Hong Kong protestors have been using to avoid police crackdowns. But the app is once again banned on apparent pressure from the Chinese government.
Late Wednesday night, Apple pulled HKmap.live, a crowdsourcing tool that's enabled Hong Kong residents to share information on nearby police activity, traffic jams, and subway stations that remain open. According to the app's developers, pro-democracy protestors, journalists, and even Hong Kong government supporters have been using HKmap.live to navigate the city as large-scale political protests continue.
Apple claims the app has been abused by criminals. "The app displays police locations and we have verified with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau that the app has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement. This app violates our guidelines and local laws," Apple told The New York Times in a statement.
Earlier this week, Chinese state-owned newspaper The People's Daily published an editorial—titled "Apple, have you really thought clearly about this?"—blasting Apple for allowing HKmap.live in the App Store, alleging that the mapping service was helping "thugs" in Hong Kong avoid police arrest.
In response, the developers of HKmap.live claim Apple is simply kowtowing to the Chinese government, which has condemned the Hong Kong protests. "We once believed the App rejection is simply a bureaucratic f up (fuck up), but now it is clearly a political decision to suppress freedom and human right in #HongKong," they tweeted.
2. There is 0 evidence to support CSTCB's accusation that HKmap App has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement. — HKmap.live ???????? (@hkmaplive) October 10, 2019
US lawmakers criticized Apple's decision, too. "Apple assured me last week that their initial decision to ban this app was a mistake. Looks like the Chinese censors have had a word with them since. Who is really running Apple? Tim Cook or Beijing?" tweeted US Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri).
"An authoritarian regime is violently suppressing its own citizens who are fighting for democracy. Apple just sided with them," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) wrote in a separate tweet.
The controversy arrives as Blizzard Entertainment is facing a public backlash in the US for suspending an esports player for his support of the Hong Kong protests during a live stream. Both Blizzard and Apple have spent years developing a major business in China, one of the world's largest markets. But doing so has meant complying with the Chinese government's strict rules on censorship.
Rival game maker Epic Games subsequently pledged not to censor its esports players.
Last night, meanwhile, an editor at online publication Quartz said the site's app had also been pulled from the Chinese App Store. "Our excellent @qz coverage of ongoing Hong Kong protests may be the reason," John Keefe tweeted.