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Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from China store under pressure from Beijing
- jbverschoor 3y agohttps://archive.is/3sRmO https://archive.is/3sRmO
- paeb72 3y agoI hope India does the same. The number of scams and fake businesses proliferating via WhatsApp, targeting the most vulnerable is totally out of control. Its like half my day is spent blocking spammers and scammers.
- pshirshov 3y agoSure thing, WhatsApp is the problem. But why didn't you uninstall it?
- blackeyeblitzar 3y agoI think the problem is that if everyone uses it, you can’t avoid it.
- beretguy 3y agoExplain to that “everyone” that you get too much spam/scam so you don’t use that app.
- adhvaryu 3y agoAnd you think there will be an alternative that'll be strict on those things?
- Log_out_ 3y agoI love to keep them busy with ChatGpt. It's not much, but it's honest lurk. Also low trust societies. You do not want to have that anywhere.
- hu3 3y agoHow is this WhatsApp fault? It's a mere communication tool. This is like banning phones because robots keep are calling me.
- fauigerzigerk 3y agoIt's a good demonstration of what Apple's sideloading ban means. With sideloading, Apple customers could make their own decision on whether or not to make a stand. The sideloading ban takes that decision away from them and hands power directly to authoritarian regimes.
- bognition 3y agoSerious question, is side loading supported on Android in mainland China?
- toast0 3y agoI guess it's up to the device makers. Afaik, sideloading is popular in China, so I'd be surprised if it were disabled. Phones made for the Mainland China market usually don't have Google Play or other Google stuff and there's lots of stuff that doesn't get published to Chinese app stores but isn't prohibited. You've got to sideload those apps, if you can find an apk.
- powerapple 3y agoyou can change your region very easily. Many Chinese iPhone users are using Turkey accounts due to its price advantages.
- snvzz 3y agoFacing pressure from China, it is interesting to see how different companies behave. There's the Apple example, and the Hololive example.
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 3y agoWorks where archive.is is blocked: https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=4083611549407&w=8Kzpg-EbO8HSD8zuyYwAht0PprUusknV https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=4083611549407&w=8Kzpg-EbO8...
- pjmlp 3y agoSo much for "Apple stands for their users" kind of speech.
- sonicanatidae 3y agoI can hear it already, "Brave". smh.
- chrisfinazzo 3y agoNot for their Chinese users, that's for sure. Not because they don't want to -- although as an American, I don't see what kind of goodwill this produces -- rather because they can't, the government simply won't allow it.
- exabrial 3y agoApple: Privacy is a human right lol
- chrisfinazzo 3y agoNot so much in China. Don't act like they had a choice to make here -- as much as I loathe intensely everything Apple does to appease the Chinese, refusing to act would likely prompt the government to ban them entirely.
- hu3 3y agoApple has a choice just like Google: leave China. Incredible that Google managed to be less evil than Apple.
- xenospn 3y agoApple can’t leave China while they make everything there. Divestment takes time and a small fortune.
- intexpress 3y agoActually Google under Sundar’s leadership desperately wants to re-enter China, to the point of already building in backdoors for the Chinese government to spy on Chinese users. See Google’s maybe-cancelled, maybe-not-cancelled project called “Dragonfly”
- hu3 3y agoThat's a "maybe Google planning to do something" vs "Apple doing horrible things in China for years".
- intexpress 3y agoIt wasn't just planning. Google had/has hundreds of people working on a surveillance system for the Chinese government. The team's mission was to build a prototype quickly and then to be ready to launch for real within 6-9 months. As far as I know Apple isn't forcing anyone to work for them in China. It sucks if they are a bad employer, but if people still want to work for Apple, then I guess they must be better than most alternatives.
- ChrisArchitect 3y ago[dupe] Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40083409 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40083409