Wired
Apple offers a service to customize products by engraving them with favorite characters and emojis, but human rights groups point out that many words cannot be engraved in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan for political reasons. Some are worried that the ability to scan and report child pornographic photos, which will be introduced in iOS 15, will be used for government crackdowns and censorship.
Engraving on the product, words to be blocked
Apple offers products such as AirTag, iPad, and AirPods that allow users to engrave their favorite words, but they can engrave words that have discriminatory or vulgar meanings or pictograms in a specific array. can not.
Belgian human rights group Citizen Lab points out that Apple is blocking so many words that it can be called “censorship” in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which are in tension with China.
Blocks of political words that stand out in China and Hong Kong
CitizenLab analyzes the algorithm that engraving blocks and compares the number of words that are blocked.
The number of words blocked in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, and the United States is as follows, and you can see that China is by far the largest.
- China: 1,045
- Hong Kong: 542
- Taiwan: 397
- Japan: 192
- Canada: 206
- America: 170
By the way, the reason why Canada has more words than the United States is that it includes French and British English.
Analyzing each reason for being blocked, it is common to all regions that “society” including vulgar words is the most common, but it is conspicuous that there are 458 words in mainland China and 174 words in Hong Kong, which is “politics”.
It is also characteristic that 27 “personal names” are included in mainland China.
On the other hand, in Japan, the United States, and Canada, there are no words prohibited by “politics.”
What is the number “8964” that cannot be stamped in China?
In mainland China, words such as “human rights,” “politics,” “resistance,” and “Falun Gong,” as well as the number “8964,” which refers to the Tiananmen Square incident that occurred on June 4, 1989, are also blocked.
Personal names such as “Dalai Lama” (Dalai Lama), “Mao Zedong” (Mao Zedong) and Chinese Communist Party executives are also prohibited.
In Hong Kong, where clashes with the Chinese government have continued, words that the Chinese government is keen on, such as “freedom of the press,” “rain umbrella revolution,” and “universal suffrage,” are blocked.
“Apple has no legal obligations, but has chosen to block the Chinese government,” CitizenLab points out.
Concerns about child pornography scans introduced in iOS 15
The blocking issue in China also raises concerns about the ability of Apple to scan child pornographic photos announced in iOS 15, tech media The Verge points out. According to Apple’s recent earnings announcement, Greater China is an important market that accounts for about 20% of total sales.
Apple explains that it will only scan photos of sexual abuse of children in the database of nonprofits, starting in the United States and not responding to government requests. Some are concerned that it could lead to government censorship, crackdowns and privacy breaches.
Source: CitizenLab, The Verge
Photo: Apple China
(hato)
Source: iPhone Mania