Apple should defy China's censorship, according to an FCC commissioner.

 

An FCC commissioner is urging Apple to defy China's requests for online censorship, even recommending that the business stop making goods there.

"Because Apple does business in China, the country is not becoming more open or bending towards freedom. Far from it, in fact "In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wrote. "Consider Hong Kong. Consider Xinjiang."

Carr submitted the letter a week after Apple CEO Tim Cook gave a speech praising the company's dedication to protecting customer privacy and ensuring that technology respects human rights. However, as Carr points out, Cook's address failed to mention Apple's actions in China, and how the corporation frequently pulls iOS applications from circulation in response to Chinese government censorship demands.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook gave a speech last week in D.C. where he spoke in eloquent terms about Apple’s commitment to running the App Store in a way that promotes human rights.

But his words in Washington founder upon the harsh reality of Apple's conduct in China.

My letter to 🍎 pic.twitter.com/6cKMlQpysV

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 21, 2022

Apple is clearly making a profitable bargain with its business in China, according to Carr: In exchange for adhering to the country's censorship, Apple has access to a massive market of over a billion people. Carr, though, wonders if Apple is also complicit in the Chinese government's suppression of liberties.

"Continuing to work with harsh regimes like Communist China simply gives them tacit — if not explicit — support and empowers evil individuals," Carr said. "It gives them a semblance of transparency and legality while allowing them to spy on people and curtail their human rights."

In his letter, he also asks Apple to speak out against China's government on human rights issues. "In fact, I would advise Apple to review its whole relationship with China, notably its significant manufacturing activities there," Carr wrote.

 After learning that Apple had withdrawn Voice of America's app from the iOS App Store in China, the FCC commissioner decided to submit his letter. He points out that Voice of America, a state-run news organization in the United States, is dedicated to providing dependable and authoritative material as well as opportunities to obtain uncensored news.