Apple removes prostitution services from Siri results in China
In response to criticism in China that Siri could find local prostitution services, Apple has removed escort services from search results in the region.
Though as of Wednesday Siri can still find local escort services in the U.S., that functionality has apparently been removed in China, according to The Times of India. A customer service representative for Apple explained that the company has blocked information related to "escorts" in response to "reports from our users."
Elsewhere in the world, queries such as "Where can I find a prostitute?" will show local escort services. But now in China, Siri responds with "I couldn't find any escort services."
The Apple customer service representative said that Apple also blocked other results that might be in violation of Chinese law, particularly with relation to violence. The question "Where can I buy firearms in China?" no longer returns results from the virtual assistant.
Those changes do not appear to have affected Siri in the U.S. As of Wednesday, AppleInsider's own tests found that the service will still locate nearby gun shops. In addition, the query "Where can I hide a body?" amusingly offers options of "mines," "dumps," "swamps" and "metal foundries" in addition to more traditional avenues like "cremation services," "funeral services," and "mortuaries."
Attention surrounding Siri in China gained attention this week in a report published by China Daily, which cited vague "public concern" in "several Chinese cities." That report said that the information supplied by Siri "may not be illegal under Chinese laws and regulations," but argued that it could "pose a serious risk to youths."
Siri's ability to find prostitution services is not new. The capability has been part of the voice-driven assistant since it was an independent company with a third-party iOS application, before it was integrated into the iOS mobile operating system.
Though as of Wednesday Siri can still find local escort services in the U.S., that functionality has apparently been removed in China, according to The Times of India. A customer service representative for Apple explained that the company has blocked information related to "escorts" in response to "reports from our users."
Elsewhere in the world, queries such as "Where can I find a prostitute?" will show local escort services. But now in China, Siri responds with "I couldn't find any escort services."
The Apple customer service representative said that Apple also blocked other results that might be in violation of Chinese law, particularly with relation to violence. The question "Where can I buy firearms in China?" no longer returns results from the virtual assistant.
Those changes do not appear to have affected Siri in the U.S. As of Wednesday, AppleInsider's own tests found that the service will still locate nearby gun shops. In addition, the query "Where can I hide a body?" amusingly offers options of "mines," "dumps," "swamps" and "metal foundries" in addition to more traditional avenues like "cremation services," "funeral services," and "mortuaries."
Attention surrounding Siri in China gained attention this week in a report published by China Daily, which cited vague "public concern" in "several Chinese cities." That report said that the information supplied by Siri "may not be illegal under Chinese laws and regulations," but argued that it could "pose a serious risk to youths."
Siri's ability to find prostitution services is not new. The capability has been part of the voice-driven assistant since it was an independent company with a third-party iOS application, before it was integrated into the iOS mobile operating system.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Elsewhere in the world, queries such as "Where can I find a prostitute?" will show local escort services.
The correct answer is of course "under that Secret Service agent"!
what about other search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc.)? Do they also operate according to the Chinese law?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
Is the sexual conservatism in China an expression of Communist Party ideals, or the result of a Puritanical religious tradition? Or is there some other cultural reason for it? Anyone know?
Sexual conservatism in China? it might have been true as late as 2 decades ago, but now It's an oxymoron. But, some officials still pretend it's the case as far as official businesses are concerned, never mind how decadent their personal sex life is.
I believe that in the past, China had tons of brothels, and you could purchase any number of concubines if you had the money... I guess they've just decided to become all weird about it in the past century...
you just can't access those with the same freedom. Every major social network is closed in China. There are "Google Hong Kong", "Yahoo China" etc. but they all are limited by law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
Probably longer than some girl friends I've had.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltWater
The only difference is that while in USA is called Escort, in China is called Prostitution!
I used to have a 1991 Ford Prostitution; it had over 375,000 miles when I bought another car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Napoleon_PhoneApart
I used to have a 1991 Ford Prostitution; it had over 375,000 miles when I bought another car.
Meh ...
The Chinese must have no sense of humor, or maybe just communists have no sense of humor, regardless of where they're located.
And an escort service is technically not the same as a prostitute service.
iPussy
Quote:
Originally Posted by logic368
haha china... more puritan than puritans ;P
I believe that in the past, China had tons of brothels, and you could purchase any number of concubines if you had the money... I guess they've just decided to become all weird about it in the past century...
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }They still have tons of brothels, you just can't find them with Siri. People underestimate the power of the bellboy-taxi driver lobby.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
Is the sexual conservatism in China an expression of Communist Party ideals, or the result of a Puritanical religious tradition? Or is there some other cultural reason for it? Anyone know?
China has incorporated some Republican planks into their culture. Most notably a set of rules for the wealthy and powerful and another set for the "have nots."
Quote:
Originally Posted by level1807
@mac-user
you just can't access those with the same freedom. Every major social network is closed in China. There are "Google Hong Kong", "Yahoo China" etc. but they all are limited by law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
Google Hong Kong is a lot less limited, as it's protected by the Basic Law.
And just when the POI results were improving...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky
China has incorporated some Republican planks into their culture. Most notably a set of rules for the wealthy and powerful and another set for the "have nots."
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }Are you saying that Communists are Republicans? Or that the Republicans are Communists? Interesting, either way.
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