Apple censors Dalai Lama iPhone apps in China

30.12.2009

Apple joins other U.S. technology giants including Yahoo and GoogleGoogle that have come under fire for complying with Chinese government demands on sensitive political issues. Human rights advocates criticized Yahoo when Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, landed a 10-year prison sentence in 2005 partly because of e-mail evidence gained from his private Yahoo account. Yahoo said it was obeying Chinese law by handing the evidence to authorities. Alles zu Google auf CIO.de

Google has been criticized for offering a censored version of its search engine for China at Google.cn, which blocks pornographic and some politically sensitive search results. Google has similarly said it must follow local laws and regulations.

Chinese authorities previously took aim at Apple last year during the Beijing Olympics, when the U.S. iTunes Music Store was blocked in China after it started selling a new collection of songs about Tibet. The U.S. iTunes Music Store and App Store are both currently accessible from Beijing.

The Chinese iPhone also appears to be subject to the country's set of Internet controls known by critics as the "Great Firewall." Searching the App Store for "Falun Gong," the name of a spiritual sect banned in China as a cult, caused iPhones in the Beijing Apple Store to display a results loading screen indefinitely, though no Falun Gong apps appear to be offered in any countries. In contrast, searches for other terms quickly returned a results page.

Other iPhone apps that might be seen as sensitive by Chinese authorities are still offered in the China App Store. Apps that, for instance, show YouTube videos or let users update their TwitterTwitter accounts remain available even though YouTube and Twitter are blocked on the Internet in China. Alles zu Twitter auf CIO.de

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