Apple forced to pull HK map app
HONG KONG: Apple on Thursday removed an app criticised by China for allowing protesters in Hong Kong to track police, as Beijing steps up pressure on foreign companies deemed to be providing support to the pro-democracy movement.
The tech giant’s pulling of HKmap.live was blasted as bowing to China and comes as highprofile brands, including the NBA and its Houston Rockets franchise, come under pressure from communist authorities over perceived support for democracy demonstrations in the financial hub.
Chinese state media this week tore into the app, which collates information on police locations submitted by users, charging that it was helping “rioters”.
Communist Party mouthpiece The People’s Daily said by stocking the app, Apple was “mixing business with politics, and even illegal acts”.
On Thursday, the app was no longer available on Apple’s Hong Kong App Store.
“We have verified with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau that the app has been used to target and ambush police,” said a notification sent by Apple and published on the HKmap.live’s Telegram channel, which has more than 70,000 subscribers.
“Criminals have used it to victimise residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement,” it continued.
HKmap.live’s makers denied their app encouraged criminal activity, and lashed out at Apple’s removal as “censorship” and “clearly a political decision to suppress freedom”.
GAMERS BOYCOTT BLIZZARD OVER BAN
Activision Blizzard Inc. is facing a fierce backlash and calls for a boycott after a unit of the American video-game company punished a player for supporting Hong Kong’s protest movement, the latest cultural clash between the US and China.
Blizzard banned Ng Wai Chung, known as Blitzchung, from its Grandmasters esports competition for a year and withheld prize money he had already won after he used a slogan from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Players and fans around the world immediately responded with outrage over what they view as heavy-handed punishment.