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Congressmen criticize Apple for censoring its music to comply with the Chinese government. The Chinese Apple Music service recently removed several Hong Kong singers from its platform, as reported on Hong Kong Free Press.
"It is shameful to see one of America's most innovative and influential technology companies backing the Chinese Communist Government's aggressive censorship efforts as we approach the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre," he said. said Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) The edge.
Rubio describes the Chinese government as a regime that has "built a totalitarian state through truly Orwellian levels of mass surveillance, censorship of thought, and human rights violations." He points out that Apple has turned a blind eye to [its] complicity "in exchange for market access.
Two of the censored singers, Denise Ho and Anthony Wong, are pro-democracy activists. The other singer, Jacky Cheung, published a song written by James Wong, who had confirmed that the lyrics referred to the 1989 protests on Tiananmen Square.
Cheung's song "The Path of Man" contained the words: "Young people are angry, heaven and earth cry / How has our country become a sea of blood? / How did the path of return become a path without return? The lyrics refer directly to the bloodshed that took place on June 4, 1989. Netizens noticed this weekend that Cheung's song had been removed from the Chinese Apple Music service.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) warned Apple on Wednesday for not taking the chance to be "a stronger voice for freedom around the world". She also has retweeted comments from an executive director of a human rights group who remembers victims of communist regimes. "It's only the latest example of an American tech company that has chosen to be complicit with the Chinese Communist Party's high-tech totalitarian state," reads in the tweet. When asked to comment, Rodgers' office The edge to the tweet.
"This news is extremely disturbing. When reports like this come up, we need to ask serious questions to ensure the protection of human rights. If these reports are true, Apple must explain to the public an explanation, "said representative Greg Walden (R-OR) in a statement.
By deleting a song referring to the Tiananmen Massacre, @Apple actively participates in the Chinese Communist Party's agenda to eliminate from its collective memory the colossal violations it has committed against the Chinese people and to rewrite history.
https://t.co/YQAKEcecRh– Yaqiu Wang (@Yaqiu) April 9, 2019
"American citizens attach importance to the First Amendment and the ability to speak freely, even on controversial issues," said Representative Bob Latta (R-OH) in The Verge today: " It is deeply worrying that, according to recent reports, Apple is acquiescing in the demands made by Chinese officials to censor pro-democracy music. We should expect better from these companies and Apple should respond to these claims. "
Every year, around June 4, the Chinese government begins to censor the mentions of the demonstrations. But this time, Apple has joined, especially on his music platform. Apple has already censored the Taiwanese flag emoji to appease China, saying that Taiwan was part of China. Censorship even inadvertently created a bug that crashed users' phones when they received texts containing the Taiwan flag emoji. Apple has also removed VPN applications from its App Store, services that would have helped users cross the Chinese firewall.
The music has proved more difficult and applied in a more unequal way. All of Anthony Wong's songs have been removed, except one titled "Do You Still Love Me?" All the songs of Jacky Cheung are preserved, except for the shocking one. And Denise Ho, a declared activist whose music is routinely removed from Chinese streaming services and banned from opening social networking accounts in China, has been completely removed from Apple Music in China. The Taiwanese, Hong Kong and American versions of Apple Music still offer these songs.
As Apple expands its retail operations in China, the number of its sales is gradually harmonized with that of the national government. The company has transferred data from its Chinese users to a local company in southern China, the Big Data Company of Guizhou-Cloud (GCBD), which has close ties with the Chinese Communist Party. Apple's lawyers have also added a clause in the terms of service in China allowing GCBD and Apple to access all user data. This decision disrupted human rights guardians at the time, some calling Apple a "sold".
Makena Kelly contributed to this report.
Update from April 12 at 1:40 pm ET: This article has been updated with a statement by Representative Bob Latta.
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