4 ms·

It´s like Apple wants to enforce censorship on behalf of oppressing dictatorships, but doesn´t want to deal with the consequences of enforcing censorship on beh

by barumi 6y ago

It´s like Apple wants to enforce censorship on behalf of oppressing dictatorships, but doesn´t want to deal with the consequences of enforcing censorship on behalf of oppressing dictatorships.

ignoramous 6y ago
It hurts their PR. They can't be out there doing ad campaigns taking a dig at the Facebooks and the Googles of the world whilst overtly abiding to the whims of totalitarian regimes.
- luckylion 6y ago
  But it's Belarus, the government is highly unpopular in the West and not really popular anywhere else. And it's not like China where they'd lose a giant market if they decided to stand up to the government, Belarus has a population of under 10m with an average income of under $6k a year. It might just be about doxxing, but the PR problem remains, of course.
  - baybal2 6y ago
    I would be very surprised this being just it, the chance of them finding out about obscure chat channels in a country across the ocean without somebody from Apple having a job monitoring them full time is infinitesimal. This very much reminds me how Google disappeared websites of Russian opposition (weeks after signing some memorandum with kremlin,) and then told "maybe they need to improve their search engine friendliness?"
    - luckylion 6y ago
      Oh, I wasn't suggesting that Apple monitors them or actively looks for doxxing, but that somebody (potentially from the police) informed them about it, they took a look and concluded that it's against their policy. I don't know whether that's a common thing, and I expect many companies wouldn't go the Telegram route and publish the demands because they don't want to put stress on their relationship with Apple. Discord apparently has channels that are used for similar activities, but I don't know whether Apple has asked Discord to hide those channels from the app, or whether anyone complained to Apple in the first place.
      - baybal2 6y ago
        For as long as I know, it's explicitly legally forbidden for private parties in US to engage in foreign relations. So, "even" by the word of US law, Apple has no permission to engage with Belarus government.
        luckylion 6y ago
        I don't think somebody reporting content for policy review (Apple's content policy, not foreign policy) is affected by any US laws. That person wouldn't have to be an Apple customer, they wouldn't have to be a user, they wouldn't have to be outside the US. I doubt there are any laws that would forbid Apple from taking or acting on a report of content policy violations.
        baybal2 6y ago
        Now, take a deep breath, and think how realistic that prospect is.
        vmvarga 6y ago
        It probably is just about doxxing, but it still shows how scummy and so far up their own ass Apple is. Just think about the lenght of the reach - trying to regulate what content somebody on a messenger app should post, not even social media platform like twitter/facebook (do they monitor those too? Telling them which groups to have?) They feel like they're creating their own little world, their own universe. And it's not some unambiguous situation like posting nudes of your ex gfs, it's very complicated what's happening in Belarus, at the very least they shouldn't interfere. But they couldn't care less about democracies of the world, if there's a slightest chance that Apple very very remotely might burn - they're OUT. And on top of that they want you to be clueless about it.
  - wh1t3n01s3 6y ago
    the Belarus government is very popular in Russia ;-)
    - luckylion 6y ago
      With the government, certainly. Are they also popular with the people, that is, would anyone switch away from iOs because Apple stood up to Belarus?

by barumi 6y ago

It´s like Apple wants to enforce censorship on behalf of oppressing dictatorships, but doesn´t want to deal with the consequences of enforcing censorship on behalf of oppressing dictatorships.

ignoramous 6y ago

It hurts their PR. They can't be out there doing ad campaigns taking a dig at the Facebooks and the Googles of the world whilst overtly abiding to the whims of totalitarian regimes.

luckylion 6y ago
But it's Belarus, the government is highly unpopular in the West and not really popular anywhere else. And it's not like China where they'd lose a giant market if they decided to stand up to the government, Belarus has a population of under 10m with an average income of under $6k a year. It might just be about doxxing, but the PR problem remains, of course.
- baybal2 6y ago
  I would be very surprised this being just it, the chance of them finding out about obscure chat channels in a country across the ocean without somebody from Apple having a job monitoring them full time is infinitesimal. This very much reminds me how Google disappeared websites of Russian opposition (weeks after signing some memorandum with kremlin,) and then told "maybe they need to improve their search engine friendliness?"
  - luckylion 6y ago
    Oh, I wasn't suggesting that Apple monitors them or actively looks for doxxing, but that somebody (potentially from the police) informed them about it, they took a look and concluded that it's against their policy. I don't know whether that's a common thing, and I expect many companies wouldn't go the Telegram route and publish the demands because they don't want to put stress on their relationship with Apple. Discord apparently has channels that are used for similar activities, but I don't know whether Apple has asked Discord to hide those channels from the app, or whether anyone complained to Apple in the first place.
    - baybal2 6y ago
      For as long as I know, it's explicitly legally forbidden for private parties in US to engage in foreign relations. So, "even" by the word of US law, Apple has no permission to engage with Belarus government.
      - luckylion 6y ago
        I don't think somebody reporting content for policy review (Apple's content policy, not foreign policy) is affected by any US laws. That person wouldn't have to be an Apple customer, they wouldn't have to be a user, they wouldn't have to be outside the US. I doubt there are any laws that would forbid Apple from taking or acting on a report of content policy violations.
        baybal2 6y ago
        Now, take a deep breath, and think how realistic that prospect is.
        vmvarga 6y ago
        It probably is just about doxxing, but it still shows how scummy and so far up their own ass Apple is. Just think about the lenght of the reach - trying to regulate what content somebody on a messenger app should post, not even social media platform like twitter/facebook (do they monitor those too? Telling them which groups to have?) They feel like they're creating their own little world, their own universe. And it's not some unambiguous situation like posting nudes of your ex gfs, it's very complicated what's happening in Belarus, at the very least they shouldn't interfere. But they couldn't care less about democracies of the world, if there's a slightest chance that Apple very very remotely might burn - they're OUT. And on top of that they want you to be clueless about it.
- wh1t3n01s3 6y ago
  the Belarus government is very popular in Russia ;-)
  - luckylion 6y ago
    With the government, certainly. Are they also popular with the people, that is, would anyone switch away from iOs because Apple stood up to Belarus?