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The timing of the change seems quite conspicuous [1], and it's also weird that Apple would introduce this in China first and only roll it out to the rest of the
by ThePhysicist 4y ago
The timing of the change seems quite conspicuous [1], and it's also weird that Apple would introduce this in China first and only roll it out to the rest of the world next year. The same article mentions that Apple blocks the Taiwanese flag emoji in China, for which it's hard to come up with an explanation other than bowing to censorship.
1: https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2022/11/netizen-voices-apple-restricts-airdrop-in-china-after-sitong-bridge-protest/ https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2022/11/netizen-voices-apple-r...
- whimsicalism 4y agoApple certainly tailors the emojis available to the local political climate. They don't, for instance, have the flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, instead using the flag of the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
- mmmpop 4y agoI can still see the Iran flag in all of its unaltered glory here in the US. I guess they missed the memo?
- gruez 4y agoAfghanistan =/= Iran The parent poster was referring to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Afghanistan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Afghanistan
- mmmpop 4y ago
- ithkuil 4y agoNot everybody knows everything. Would you be so kind to share what's up with the Iranian flag? It's seems interesting. I happen to not know much about it and I love when people bring up some interesting curiosities here (sometimes unfortunately obscured by sarcasm or other convolutions)
- mmmpop 4y agoIt was front page shit for two days, sorry. I think others explained it well enough but I still insist that it was perfectly relevant. I can only assume that this is a 3rd rail of sorts for “Western” types who seem to be 100% anti-Iran lately, even though I remember about half a decade ago the same sorts of people were pro-Iran when it came to giving back their money that would eventually be used to fund terrorism, but would love to take Russia’s money for doing the same thing. Never forget that Biden fistbumped MbS.
- schoen 4y agoThe U.S. Soccer Federation tweeted about Iran, intentionally using a pre-Islamic-Revolution version of the country's flag. (Or, one might imagine, what it hoped will be the post-Islamic-Revolution version.)
- jakear 4y agoThe Iranian protestors have brought back the old flag, featuring the lion and the sun at center, and often make shows of removing the Islamic State’s symbol from the center of the current “official” flag (the word Allah in Persian calligraphy).
- pc86 4y agoIran and Afghanistan are different countries.
- mmmpop 4y ago
- standard1123 4y agohttps://99percentinvisible.org/episode/person-lotus-position/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/person-lotus-position... Here's a podcast interviewing someone who created an emoji
- throw7 4y agoTruth. And it's not just apple, on android we (U.S.) get a "water gun" for gun and no emoji shows up when you search for rifle.
- zerocrates 4y agoThe gun emoji became a toy on all major platforms everywhere several years ago. This is surely related to the political climate but I believe the entities involved applied that change worldwide.
- ipaddr 4y agoI would love to learn more about backroom emoji politics. It sounds foolish on the surface but emojis have a big reach.
- hirsin 4y agoHere's some folks taking emojis very seriously. Including the poop emoji face. It's a good read - https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17393-wg2-emoji-feedback.pdf https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17393-wg2-emoji-feedback.pd... (pdf)
- fomine3 4y agoI watched this documentary https://www.dutch-core.com/programs/documentary/backlight-beyond-emoji https://www.dutch-core.com/programs/documentary/backlight-be...
- topranks 4y agoThis is a really good doc on it https://www.theemojistory.com/ https://www.theemojistory.com/
- murderfs 4y agoIt became a toy because Apple unilaterally changed it, and then everyone had to follow because it would otherwise lead to things like this: https://blog.emojipedia.org/content/images/2016/08/emojipedia-pistol-emoji-cross-platform.png https://blog.emojipedia.org/content/images/2016/08/emojipedi...
- int_19h 4y agoThat would be because IRA remains the sole government of Afghanistan recognized by relevant agencies such as UN. Which companies generally defer to when they came, because it cuts down on a lot of individual political decisions they'd have to make otherwise. Yandex is an interesting showcase of how bad this can get - they literally dropped country borders from their maps last year "for better user experience". And I don't mean just lines that you normally see while browsing the map, but even when you ask for it deliberately. For example, if you look up a city, you get its territory highlighted on the map - but that's not the case for countries, it just puts a marker "somewhere in the middle". They also removed administrative regional boundaries without announcing that change - probably because looking up regions at the border would have to include a part of said border into the displayed boundary, making it discoverable.
- whimsicalism 4y ago> That would be because IRA remains the sole government of Afghanistan recognized by relevant agencies such as UN. Which companies generally defer to when they came, because it cuts down on a lot of individual political decisions they'd have to make otherwise. How does that standard apply to Taiwan?
- Rebelgecko 4y agoIn mainland China they don't support the Taiwanese flag emoji, presumably because that's the only country that would care or want to censor it.
- vjulian 4y agoPerhaps Yandex maps could be perceived as representing an ideal future devoid of essentially arbitrary political boundaries and silly notions of citizenship.
- account42 4y agoNo matter how much you want such an utopia where everyone gets along, that is not the reality we are living in. Instead, borders are real and which country a particular location in matters in many contexts that involve looking at a map.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- anon400232 4y agoBowing to censorship? Bowing isn't necessarily done happily. Or maybe more ideas are also in play? Perhaps recognizing the existing power dynamics? Perhaps playing the game over a longer time frame? Not all ethicists recommend "dying on your sword" so to speak. Sometimes it is useful to maintain influence and fight another day. These things are far from simple. If you want Apple to push back on censorship in China, let's talk about the details. What would China likely do in return?
- zackees 4y agoHopefully, they (the CCP) will collapse.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y agoHmm, I see this sentiment often, but I am not entirely certain people go through it beyond the initial 'feels good' analysis. If there is one thing that US population probably should be aware of, it is that succeeding regime will not automatically be to one's advantage ( devil known kinda deal ). Say what you want about old age, but it does force you to recognize certain level of stability as desirable.
- stickfigure 4y agoTaiwan made the transition to democracy. No reason why the mainlanders can't.
- funcDropShadow 4y agoThey could make that transition, of course. But look at all the countries that somehow got rid of dictators in this century. How many of those turned into stable, free, and democratic societies? Afghanistan? Iraq? Egypt? Lybia? If you add ten more years, did it work out for Russia? Belarus? Ukraine? It did work out for Poland, Latvia and some others. But getting rid of an oppressive regime is the easy part of transforming an autocracy into democracy.
- stcredzero 4y agoit's hard to come up with an explanation other than bowing to censorship If one believes Elon Musk's view of the Twitter situation with the app store, Apple seems to be for more censorship!
- concordDance 4y ago[flagged]
- eli 4y agoIt’s safe to ignore him indefinitely
- stevespang 4y ago[dead]