Often, we take for granted the ease in which technology allows us to share information. For those of us with an iPhone, we can use the “airdrop” feature to share photos, videos, and all sorts of other content with those around us. We don’t even need to have their phone numbers.
China isn’t a fan of the feature. Why? It allows people to share whatever content they want, including content that may not be friendly to the government. We wouldn’t want people to actually spread the TRUTH, now would we?
As such, the Chinese government has decided that it would ask Apple for a favor. The info-sharing tool has been disabled in China. This means that people cannot share information whenever they want. They have to use the traditional tools for sharing info so that government filters can be applied. It’s a terrible infringement on personal rights – but would you expect anything less from the Communist nation?
Perhaps what’s worse is that Apple decided that it would be okay. The people in China don’t actually need to have freedom to say and share what they like, right? And if Apple is so quick to do it in China, what’s to say that they won’t do it in the US or anywhere else?
Vice News reported that this isn’t the first time that Apple bowed to a request from China, either. “It pulled the flags of Taiwan — a self-governed democracy that China claims as part of its territory — from iPhones in Hong Kong in 2019.”
This is a dangerous precedent and one we have to be careful of. If Apple is partnering too close to China, it can’t be good for anyone.
