China pressures Apple to censor app that allows Hong Kong protesters to report police activity
China is pressuring Apple to censor an app used by Hong Kong protesters.
HKmap.live, which is sold at Apple's online store, allows people to report police activity -- where officers are, where tear gas is being deployed, etc.
The newspaper of the Communist Party, People's Daily, asserted in an opinion Wednesday that HKmap.live "facilitates illegal behavior."
"Is Apple guiding Hong Kong thugs?" the paper asked. "Apple jumped into this on its own and mixed together business with politics and commercial activity with illegal activities."
A display of the app "HKmap.live" designed by an outside supplier and available on Apple Inc.'s online store is seen in Hong Kong Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Then it gave what can be interpreted as an ominous warning to the technology giant: "This recklessness will cause much trouble for Apple. Apple needs to think deeply."
When asked if China was specifically trying to get Apple to eliminate the app from its store, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the the country's foreign ministry, said he had no information about that.
"What I can tell you is that these radical, violent crimes in Hong Kong have seriously challenged the legal system and social order in Hong Kong, threatened the safety of Hong Kong residents' lives and property, and undermined the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong," Shuang added. "Anyone who has a conscience and justice should resist and oppose instead of supporting and indulging those actions."
An icon of an app "HKmap.live" designed by an outside supplier and available on Apple Inc.'s online store is seen in Hong Kong Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
China has recently been taking issue with other American companies in regards to the Hong Kong protests. The country removed NBA games from state-run TV after Houston Rockets General Manager Darryl Morey wrote a tweet supporting the Hong Kong protests.
Hundreds of thousands of people in China work in factories making Apple computers and iPhones.
An Apple spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on this report.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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