Yahoo Finance app pulled from Chinese App Store
Yahoo Finance appears to be the latest victim of China's suppressive internet regulations, as the iOS app used by many to access foreign news coverage is no longer available in that country's App Store.
The app was purged on Oct. 14, according to Apple Censorship, a website that tracks App Store takedowns and changes. It is unclear who pulled Yahoo Finance and for what reason, and neither Apple nor Yahoo have responded to requests for comment on the matter.
Chinese users relied on the app to read news stories from media outlets that are typically blocked by China's Great Firewall and other internet censorship programs, reports The Telegraph. Capable of effectively bypassing the government's carefully laid content restrictions, the title likely caught the unwanted attention of authorities like the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and was subsequently marked for removal.
Days prior to its App Store expulsion, Yahoo Finance republished a Bloomberg story critical of China's crackdown on the tech industry, the report said. The article contained reference to supposed preferential treatment afforded to Apple in exchange for compliance with government requests, including app takedown notices.
"Recently Apple has been removing many apps at the demand of the Chinese authorities," said Benjamin Ismail, project director at Apple Censorship, told the publication. "But complying with governments' orders is different than complying with law, especially in China, where the authorities often resort to extralegal means to muzzle the press, bloggers, activists or any dissenting voices."
Apple is widely viewed as having an obsequious relationship with Chinese bodies like the CAC. Despite touting itself as a staunch champion of human rights causes such as freedom of expression and access to information, the iPhone maker routinely cows to requests that stifle such agency. At stake is a massive consumer market, one that is well positioned to dictate success or failure as the tech giant works to grow its global reach.
Apple has a rich history of yanking apps deemed unfit for Chinese consumption. In late 2016, the company removed the official New York Times app on claims that it violated unspecified local laws. A number of virtual private network (VPN) apps that threatened to break through the Great Firewall were booted from the App Store months later.
More recently, Apple last week reportedly pulled Quran Majeed at the behest of government officials. Other apps that present users with religious texts and material, including "Olive Tree Bible," "Holy Bible King James" and "Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom," were also expelled from China's App Store.
Read on AppleInsider
The app was purged on Oct. 14, according to Apple Censorship, a website that tracks App Store takedowns and changes. It is unclear who pulled Yahoo Finance and for what reason, and neither Apple nor Yahoo have responded to requests for comment on the matter.
Chinese users relied on the app to read news stories from media outlets that are typically blocked by China's Great Firewall and other internet censorship programs, reports The Telegraph. Capable of effectively bypassing the government's carefully laid content restrictions, the title likely caught the unwanted attention of authorities like the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and was subsequently marked for removal.
Days prior to its App Store expulsion, Yahoo Finance republished a Bloomberg story critical of China's crackdown on the tech industry, the report said. The article contained reference to supposed preferential treatment afforded to Apple in exchange for compliance with government requests, including app takedown notices.
"Recently Apple has been removing many apps at the demand of the Chinese authorities," said Benjamin Ismail, project director at Apple Censorship, told the publication. "But complying with governments' orders is different than complying with law, especially in China, where the authorities often resort to extralegal means to muzzle the press, bloggers, activists or any dissenting voices."
Apple is widely viewed as having an obsequious relationship with Chinese bodies like the CAC. Despite touting itself as a staunch champion of human rights causes such as freedom of expression and access to information, the iPhone maker routinely cows to requests that stifle such agency. At stake is a massive consumer market, one that is well positioned to dictate success or failure as the tech giant works to grow its global reach.
Apple has a rich history of yanking apps deemed unfit for Chinese consumption. In late 2016, the company removed the official New York Times app on claims that it violated unspecified local laws. A number of virtual private network (VPN) apps that threatened to break through the Great Firewall were booted from the App Store months later.
More recently, Apple last week reportedly pulled Quran Majeed at the behest of government officials. Other apps that present users with religious texts and material, including "Olive Tree Bible," "Holy Bible King James" and "Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom," were also expelled from China's App Store.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
With your last sentence it is now perfectly clear that you espouse the concept of totalitarianism, the suppression of speech that you deem dangerous. The government should regulate freedom, Chinese style, for the “good of the people”. The government should completely control the economy.
Those are just a few of the current issues … if you think we got problems, haha, look around! I’d rather deal with Western Problems and “fight for the truth” … than live in a state where TRUTH is completely suppressed!
So propaganda-tinged official party sanctioned news being the only permitted sources, topped with disinformation, and heavy censorship of alternative reporting to keep the party in power from being questioned is the right answer? Here in the US even your hated Fox News doesn't have that power and influence. You are free to read unbiased Chinese sources for US news if you prefer it over what you perceive as biased US ones. You are assumed to have the propensity to choose for yourself and accept the rewards and consequences as a free-thinking human being.
IMHO, the controlling political party hiding any news that might question their decisions is hardly a good way to lead a country into the future George. It assumes you are not wise enough to see the truth and then properly choose, thus choice must be removed by omission.
You may think US citizens having such a large (undue?) influence on our government is a bad thing, and some will agree with you. I'm actually on your side in some small ways. Is the polar opposite of being led by the nose along a walled garden walkway hiding what is on the other side of the bricks the way to do what is best for the ones under your protection? Do you believe the "Chinese way" of unquestioned government allegiance is an ideal goal for you and your family?
Do you encourage your grandson to read and study and be familiar with arguments on all sides of an issue rather than some Republican/Democrat authority (or even you) choosing for him? Well of course you do. You trust your grandson's intelligence and character enough to let him find his own path, or at least I hope you do. Do you?
In China they would not trust him to freely educate himself and find his own personal truths, far too dangerous to party goals for society to permit news that questions of party goals. Under Western standards he is, even encouraged. Which do you want for your grandson George? If it's somewhere between the two isn't China as equally wrong for your family as your own country is?
Surprise me with something other than calling me a silly name, changing the subject, or some other failure of logic.
If I chose to flip the script and say to you "If you dislike democracy so much perhaps you would be happier in China", it would be equally as dishonest a debating point as yours. That's why I don't resort to such illogic just to imagine I "win".
So maybe read the words I wrote again George and directly address what I asked rather than inserting some non-logical "I support Hitler" silliness and claims that I must support propaganda (from China or the West doesn't matter), while you avoid comment on whether you would endorse Chinese-style party-in-control media censorship in the US for your grandson, something I actually did ask your opinion on.
Unless you can be honest, no matter where the chips fall, there's no benefit to anyone reading this thread if you choose to respond. It's OK to say China is flawed too and neither model would be your choice for your Grandson (or for your), just as it's OK to say you want your Grandson to grow up in a party-controlled censored environment. You've already implied the Western free media model isn't acceptable for you.
Hitler could only have maintained control of Germany in a censored party-state controlled media environment, closer to the China model than the US. Barring a Government overthrow and takeover of our country by either the Republicans or the Democrats, that's hardly a realistic claim from you George. It's a cop-out IMHO.
Chinese culture follows Confucious doctrine. His teachings concentrated on how human beings can live peacefully with nature and other people. He gave up on how to finding the truth. Instead he focused on how a government should work. This is the biggest deficiency of western culture. Since ancient Greek westerners respect freedom because of nomad culture. Democracy is compatible with freedom. In Western culture government leader has no power. The power is only given by laws. Therefore western government is inept. Chinese civilization excels over western civilization because of this historical reason. The situation changed dramatically after western world through Renaissance discovered modern science by freedom of research. Modern science spawned industrial revolution. Western civilization exceeded Chinese civilization. With this newfound culture westerners look down on Chinese people.
However, western culture still cannot make government better with democracy. Because truth can only be found from highly intelligent people like Newton and Einstein. Ordinary people are blind men. They are manipulated by evil people.
So you want Apple to become an extension of the American government pushing our ideology onto others and used as a weapon against those you don't like. You know, like they (falsely) accuse China of doing.