Apple removes 25,000 apps from the China App Store

[Matrix]

What just happened? Apple has pulled 25,000 apps from the app store in China following criticism from the state-run media, which has accused the company of allowing banned content on its platform. Chinese broadcaster CCTV said the apps were removed to comply with state regulators, and that 4000 of them were tagged with the word gambling.

“Gambling apps are illegal and not allowed on the App Store in China,” Apple said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “We have already removed many apps and developers for trying to distribute illegal gambling apps on our App Store, and we are vigilant in our efforts to find these and stop them from being on the App Store.”

25,000 apps might sound like a lot, but it still represents less than 1.5 percent of the 1.8 million App Store apps available in the country.

CCTV first criticized Apple over the gambling-related apps found on its store earlier this month. The broadcast has also called out Apple over iMessage spam, something the company is trying to address by working with Chinese carriers.

“Apple itself has set up the rules on how to allow apps onto its store, but it didn’t follow that, resulting in the proliferation of bogus lottery apps and gambling apps,” said CCTV.

China remains one of Apple’s largest markets after the US, but the company faces a constant battle to stay on the right side of regulators. Last year saw it remove 700 VPN apps from the store, which were used to circumvent the country’s Great Firewall and access blocked websites and social media platforms.

While Apple has an app store in China, Google Play remains banned. But the latter company is working with the Chinese government on Project Dragonfly—a heavily restricted search engine that will not show links to forbidden topics such as democracy, religion, or human rights.

 

Source

[WindowsAddict]

20 minutes ago, DonyMach1 said:

a heavily restricted search engine that will not show links to forbidden topics such as democracy, religion, or human rights.

 

 

Source

WTH I wonder how the people of china can live under such a restricted environment and not throw away the rulers.

[luisam]

3 hours ago, WindowsAddict said:

WTH I wonder how the people of china can live under such a restricted environment and not throw away the rulers

 

About 4000 apps are tagged as "gambling" and I feel it's quite right to remove that kind of apps; but what about the other 21.000? Just guess that somehow, might they have CENSORED content? Somehow the might make think user about topics such as democracy, religion or human rights?

I'm sure most of China's users DON'T EVEN KNOW that topics such as democracy, religion or human rights are banned and forbidden because even to talk about "censorship" is forbidden! Just let's hope that one day the "sleeping giant", those 1500 millions of chinese ruled by a communist "nomenclatura" which really is a ruthless imperialist exploiting  system, will wake up and decide that they should live in a country where you can talk and practice democracy, religion or human rights without censorship!

[steven36]

3 hours ago, WindowsAddict said:

WTH I wonder how the people of china can live under such a restricted environment and not throw away the rulers.

Well in the USA  gambling is Illegal  in many states,  in some states they have boats  with casinos on them  were you ride out to sea offshore were the state government has no jurisdiction  other states have them on the Indian Res were are not subject to  the white man's laws . Every since i can remember gambling was never legal in my state but that never stopped no one from doing it in the privacy of there own homes, always  the guys are having some beers and a card game somewhere for money . just because its illegal dont mean they dont do it underground no one needs the internet to gamble last time i checked . I'm not a gambling man myself i view it as a addiction.

 

Quote

In June 2018, the Chinese Government banned all online poker application. App stores had to remove all poker related applications, and the promotion of poker in general via all social media channels in China (Wechat, Weibo) became forbidden.This decision has been considered to be the Chinese equivalent of the 2011 American Black Friday.

 

The USA done this way back in 2011  and they are the so called land of the free  but you're only free to do what you want as long as you don't get caught .  It dont matter were you live you must follow the laws of the land or ether you break the laws of the land and if you do the crime you should be willing to do the time .

 

People in China have the Lottery or they can go to Hong Kong and Macau and gamble legal same as we can play the  Lottery or i can go to another state , or get on a boat or go to the RES  . The China laws are not very different than the USA on this.

[luisam]

1 hour ago, steven36 said:

The USA done this way back in 2011  and they are the so called land of the free  but you're only free to do what you want as long as you don't get caught .  It dont matter were you live you must follow the laws of the land or ether you break the laws of the land and if you do the crime you should be willing to do the time

 

 

1 hour ago, steven36 said:

Well in the USA  gambling is Illegal  in many states,  in some states they have boats  with casinos on them  were you ride out to sea offshore were the state government has no jurisdiction  other states have them on the Indian Res were are not subject to  the white man's laws . Every since i can remember gambling was never legal in my state but that never stopped no one from doing it in the privacy of there own homes, always  the guys are having some beers and a card game somewhere for money . just because its illegal dont mean they dont do it underground no one needs the internet to gamble last time i checked . I'm not a gambling man myself i view it as a addiction.

 

You are missing the main issue: it's not about the gambling, porn or terrorism but topics such as democracy, religion or human rights and free access to any website where Chinese people might get uncensored information, including the information about political censorship. By the way I guess that by now NSANE FORUMS is included in this "censored websites" listing.

[steven36]

Just now, luisam said:

 

 

 

You are missing the main issue: it's not about the gambling, porn or terrorism but topics such as democracy, religion or human rights and free access to any website where Chinese people might get uncensored information, including the information about political censorship. By the way I guess that by now NSANE FORUMS is included in this "censored websites" listing.

The other issues are a whole other topic and not what this topic is about  , i dont miss nothing i just don't go off topic about issues .. Google and Facebook are guilty of the same kind of censorship  the internet is censored regardless.

[luisam]

2 hours ago, steven36 said:

The other issues are a whole other topic and not what this topic is about

 

It's NOT OFF TOPICS.  The post is about 25.000 apps banned; 4000 apps are related to gamblig and I'm ok with that. But, I'm asking WHY Chinese censors banned those other 21.000 apps and the reason is because obviously somehow they were not complying state regulations, and I assume that those other "problematic" issues were democracy, religion or human rights, probably somehow letting access to another websites where users might get some "glimps" about those censored themes. Withouth having an inventory and an analysis of the content and thematics of those banned apps (obviously, not banned for gambling) all I can do is to speculate about the issue. But Apple gave no hint, probaly just to avoid further anthagonism with the Chinese. As the article says, they have 1.8 millions of apps and it's not worth mention (FOR THEM)

Or maybe you have some other idea, why those 21.000 apps were banned?

[steven36]

24 minutes ago, luisam said:

 

It's NOT OFF TOPICS.  The post is about 25.000 apps banned; 4000 apps are related to gamblig and I'm ok with that. But, I'm asking WHY Chinese censors banned those other 21.000 apps and the reason is because obviously somehow they were not complying state regulations, and I assume that those other "problematic" issues were democracy, religion or human rights, probably somehow letting access to another websites where users might get some "glimps" about those censored themes. Withouth having an inventory and an analysis of the content and thematics of those banned apps (obviously, not banned for gambling) all I can do is to speculate about the issue. But Apple gave no hint, probaly just to avoid further anthagonism with the Chinese. As the article says, they have 1.8 millions of apps and it's not worth mention (FOR THEM)

Or maybe you have some other idea, why those 21.000 apps were banned?

I dont care why they was banned , caring will not change the fact they was ..I cant even control what happens in my own country much less what happens in China .. I woke up this morning and seen this on the news on Kodi  witch cuts out the censoring Google .

 

You need to worry about the crap happening in your own country  besides what others are doing to theirs.

Quote

By shadow-banning (and sometimes outright banning) conservative political commentators and politicians, these giant tech platforms are basically making in-kind political contributions to the Democrat Party. Especially when their CEOs admit during interviews that their companies are 'left-leaning' and their employees are caught on hidden cameras openly admitting that the goal is to disappear speech and accounts from the right side of the political spectrum.

 

And you want speak about China when the whole USA internet is one big censored mess!

I've done got were 99% stuff posted in the main stream media don't interest me. Now  i get up in the morning watch the news , every since , Apple , Google and Facebook started banning political commentators and politicians  i stop using them  as a source to get the news i just open Kodi and go right to the live News feed of my choice.

[WindowsAddict]

4 hours ago, steven36 said:

I dont care why they was banned , caring will not change the fact they was ..I cant even control what happens in my own country much less what happens in China .. I woke up this morning and seen this on the news on Kodi  witch cuts out the censoring Google .

 

You need to worry about the crap happening in your own country  besides what others are doing to theirs.

 

And you want speak about China when the whole USA internet is one big censored mess!

I've done got were 99% stuff posted in the main stream media don't interest me. Now  i get up in the morning watch the news , every since , Apple , Google and Facebook started banning political commentators and politicians  i stop using them  as a source to get the news i just open Kodi and go right to the live News feed of my choice.

Its is different when a private company censor content on their site by following a set of rules. Every site decides what will be hosted on their site and what will be deleted, it is a part of basic freedom.

But it is a whole lot of different when a government says you can't discuss some basic topics anywhere on the internet, and if you get caught even discussing it, you will get thrown in to jail.

In usa you can discuss basic topics without the fear of government punishment, even if a platform doesn't allow you to discuss it you can always find a alternative or create a platform on the internet. you get to decide which platform you want to use for your online activity not the government. you can make sure government don't get to know your online activity and you can have privacy and that's the basic freedom. while in china you don't have that basic freedom.

 

 

[steven36]

22 minutes ago, WindowsAddict said:

Its is different when a private company censor content on their site by following a set of rules. Every site decides what will be hosted on their site and what will be deleted, it is a part of basic freedom.

But it is a whole lot of different when a government says you can't discuss some basic topics anywhere on the internet, and if you get caught even discussing it, you will get thrown in to jail.

In usa you can discuss basic topics without the fear of government punishment, even if a platform doesn't allow you to discuss it you can always find a alternative or create a platform on the internet. you get to decide which platform you want to use for your online activity not the government. you can make sure government don't get to know your online activity and you can have privacy and that's the basic freedom. while in china you don't have that basic freedom.

 

 

Well what can you do to stop it ? You think China cares about your opinion of them?  people like you who hates there culture is the reason  they have there own version of the internet  .  I  belonged to forums from communist countries the whole time i been on warez forums and they are some of the  best forums because they dont alow idiotic discussions about world politics witch this board dont alow by the way but you guys seem to keep forgetting . We suppose to discuss how we are alike not how we are different witch i discussed how the USA and China are alike all you guys want to focus on is how were different.

[WindowsAddict]

1 hour ago, steven36 said:

Well what can you do to stop it ? You think China cares about your opinion of them?  people like you who hates there culture is the reason  they have there own version of the internet  .  I  belonged to forums from communist countries the whole time i been on warez forums and they are some of the  best forums because they dont alow idiotic discussions about world politics witch this board dont alow by the way but you guys seem to keep forgetting . We suppose to discuss how we are alike not how we are different witch i discussed how the USA and China are alike all you guys want to focus on is how were different.

If you think it deeply you will notice that humans action are mostly controlled by what society think something as good or shameful, humans get to know these societies opinion mostly by fellow humans criticism or appreciations. If someone participate in a criticism then in most cases it leads to target altering its action, or in case of appreciation it leads to target furthering its actions.

China is already under pressure for its act, they don't make headlines or world announcement on how they imprisoned all the member's of  democratic and liberal movement, they like to keep it low and there is a reason for it, they are afraid of worlds reaction if their action become highlights. You see how criticism works, i'm just a part of the bigger human society chain.

and don't try to tell Chinese culture and their oppressive regime is the same thing, very few people get to decide whether its going to be a democracy or oppressive regime, it doesn't reflect the whole culture understandings.i actually like Chinese people for how their lives are mostly free from religion and i personally don't have any reason to hate Chinese people and its culture.

anyway i respect nsane policy of no political discussion, and i will not participate any political discussion again here, but note that if someone gonna make a idiotic comparison of how usa and Chinese censorship are the same, then it is also a political discussion, and get ready when someone tells you that comparison is idiotic. 

[steven36]

40 minutes ago, WindowsAddict said:

If you think it deeply you will notice that humans action are mostly controlled by what society think something as good or shameful, humans get to know these societies opinion mostly by fellow humans criticism or appreciations. If someone participate in a criticism then in most cases it leads to target altering its action, or in case of appreciation it leads to target furthering its actions.

China is already under pressure for its act, they don't make headlines or world announcement on how they imprisoned all the member's of  democratic and liberal movement, they like to keep it low and there is a reason for it, they are afraid of worlds reaction if their action become highlights. You see how criticism works, i'm just a part of the bigger human society chain.

and don't try to tell Chinese culture and their oppressive regime is the same thing, very few people get to decide whether its going to be a democracy or oppressive regime, it doesn't reflect the whole culture understandings.i actually like Chinese people for how their lives are mostly free from religion and i personally don't have any reason to hate Chinese people and its culture.

anyway i respect nsane policy of no political discussion, and i will not participate any political discussion again here, but note that if someone gonna make a idiotic comparison of how usa and Chinese censorship are the same, then it is also a political discussion, and get ready when someone tells you that comparison is idiotic. 

Why dont you go take you're problems up with the Chinese Government  bitching about them to me or anyone else on a message board wont accomplish jack .  Fact is Nixon opened up China to the free world back in the 60s before that they was a closed society . Even the USA Government  dont get involved with human rights issues with China because they know better,  there just worried about trade is all.  So if no country will stand up against it anymore what makes you think what you say matters? The USA stop fighting against communist countries when the cold war ended . You ever watch the TV show Snow Fall you will see how messed up the Govt was back in the 80s dumping drugs into the USA  when the whole time Nancy was on TV saying just say no to drugs. The CIA was dealing drugs and killing Americans in the name of stopping  the communist. 

 

Why dont you do some research on the Coldwar  and get a understanding of why things are the way they are instead of trying to be a hero of a dead cause.

 

The History of the Cold War Podcast

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/httpfeedssoundcloudcomuserssoundcloudusers194053673soundsrss/the-history-of-the-cold-war-podcast

[WindowsAddict]

38 minutes ago, steven36 said:

Why dont you go take you're problems up with the Chinese Government  bitching about them to me or anyone else on a message board wont accomplish jack .  Fact is Nixon opened up China to the free world back in the 60s before that they was a closed society . Even the USA Government  dont get involved with human rights issues with China because they know better,  there just worried about trade is all.  So if no country will stand up against it anymore what makes you think what you say matters? The USA stop fighting against communist countries when the cold war ended . You ever watch the TV show Snow Fall you will see how messed up the Govt was back in the 80s dumping drugs into the USA  when the whole time Nancy was on TV saying just say no to drugs. The CIA was dealing drugs and killing Americans in the name of stopping  the communist. 

 

Why dont you do some research on the Coldwar  and get a understanding of why things are the way they are instead of trying to be a hero of a dead cause.

 

The History of the Cold War Podcast

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/httpfeedssoundcloudcomuserssoundcloudusers194053673soundsrss/the-history-of-the-cold-war-podcast

Governments are not going to take interest in other countries problem unless its deadly serious, Governments have enough problems to handle in their own countries, one shouldn't expect them to fix others. anyway as i've said its the society who will make changes, we just need to make sure that people can express their opinions without the fear of disappearing, when people have the ability to speak without fear then it start to make changes, changes at every level and at every part, and it leads to democracy. a single post about it just play a very small role in the bigger and very slow changes, it leads people to have a some thought on this matter, the more number of post by various people, the bigger is effect. you see whatever i'm posting here is not planned, it just a very normal opinion of a person. You may see that this isn't gonna change a thing, but note the thoughts of governments 70 years ago in most of the countries and see how they all evolved somehow better, countries will change, it'll take time, may be a long time or may be never but if people start giving it a thought, it may change and i''ll be just a very small part of the changing society and its working.

[steven36]

4 hours ago, WindowsAddict said:

 

in most of the countries and see how they all evolved somehow better, countries will change, it'll take time, may be a long time or may be never but if people start giving it a thought, it may change and i''ll be just a very small part of the changing society and its working.

Why would China change when what they are doing is working for them? You make no sense...  Other countries changed based on the fact they was forced to change, ether war changed them or there economy collapsed .
 

Quote

The Chinese Civil War resulted in a division of territory in 1949, when the Communist Party of China established the People’s Republic of China on Mainland China, while the Kuomintang-led government retreated to the island of Taiwan. The political status of Taiwan and the ROC remains disputed.

Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China's economy has been one of the world's fastest-growing with annual growth rates consistently above 6 percent. As of 2016, it is the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).] China is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods.China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army and second-largest defense budget.[ The PRC is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council as it replaced the ROC in 1971, as well as an active global partner of ASEAN Plus mechanism. China is also a leading member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), WTO, APEC, BRICS, the BCIM, and the G20. China is a great power and a major regional power within Asia, and has been characterized as a potential superpower.

 

 

Even with the trade war, time is on China's side it's just a waiting game to them , because China has a president  for life were time is not on the  USA's side within 2 years the people can elect a congress were the president will not be able to get anything done .some have the misfortune of being elected in office with a neutral party in congress from day one..The  president  can be voted out in 4 years and most the president can stay in office is 8 years unless there is a war .China's economy has been growing for the better every since 1978 there is no other country in the world that can boast  40 years of a growing economy. China has not had a  recession since the economic reform of 1978 but the USA had the great recession since then .

[WindowsAddict]

17 hours ago, steven36 said:

Why would China change when what they are doing is working for them? You make no sense...  Other countries changed based on the fact they was forced to change, ether war changed them or there economy collapsed .
 

 

Even with the trade war, time is on China's side it's just a waiting game to them , because China has a president  for life were time is not on the  USA's side within 2 years the people can elect a congress were the president will not be able to get anything done .some have the misfortune of being elected in office with a neutral party in congress from day one..The  president  can be voted out in 4 years and most the president can stay in office is 8 years unless there is a war .China's economy has been growing for the better every since 1978 there is no other country in the world that can boast  40 years of a growing economy. China has not had a  recession since the economic reform of 1978 but the USA had the great recession since then .

Single party rule in china was adopted to make a stable government to make steady economic growth, as it was considered that multi party system will create road blocks in growth (this is not true, currently fastest growing economy in the world is india and it is biggest democracy). but as everyone knows, a government without opposition and accountability creates a oppressive government and that is where problem lies.

there have been some pro democracy movement but the government always made sure to silent every opposition voice. in 1989 Tiananmen Square protests government killed around 3000 people, you see what they can do to kill opposition, if they have guts to kill 3000 people at once so how it is easy for them to find every leader and active member's of opposition and kill them and make sure one party rule remain untouched. anyway some believe that gradual reforms will happen and once china reached economic prosperity then it may liberalize political scenario. but its highly doubtable if government will allow political reforms.

chinese people are around 7 times less rich compared to usa. and as it is a fact that it is easy to rule poor people compared to rich, and when china gain certain level of prosperity it will gradually become hard to keep continue to impose restriction by government. in next 3 or 4 decades government may liberalize politics and laws if free speech and free information can find its way, or government may gradually reform politics in future. sadly current restriction are at the sick level.current working is not at the ideal stage and it have serious concern. there is enough voices exist for democracy and free speech in underground. this cause is not and shouldn't be dead. lets hope and contribute for the better.