The tech giant has already been accused in the past of modifying its services to please in Beijing, which severely censures any dispute.
by Le Monde .fr (with with Bloomberg)
Apple introduced a limitation, in China, of the Airdrop functionality of its iPhone, used in particular by opponents to power to share files. The system allows you to quickly exchange images, documents and videos between Apple devices, coming either from all iPhone owners nearby, or only contacts recorded by the recipient.
The latest version of the iOS 16.1.1 operating system, deployed Wednesday, November 9 – limits to ten minutes the duration during which an iPhone owner can receive files from people who are not part of his Contacts. To continue to receive files in this mode beyond this period, the user must have reactivated this option in the seconds preceding the fateful time. This complicates things for criticisms of power who would like to discreetly propagate documents or information around them.
Emoji withdrawn
This development comes after protesters used Airdrop to disseminate opposition visuals to leader Xi Jinping and Government – the use of Airdrop to circumvent very strict censorship in China has been solidly documented during these three years, and again recently.
It only concerns the iPhone sold in China at this stage. Apple did not specify why this evolution had been introduced into the country, but declared predicting its implementation all over the world during the coming year, in order to combat the sharing of unlined files.
The Cupertino giant (California) has been the subject of deploring criticisms in the past that he changes the functions of his iPhone to please Chinese power. In 2019, Apple had removed the emoji from the Taiwan flag, the island whose Beijing claims to resume total control, for its users of Hong Kong and Macao. The firm has also deleted virtual private networks (VPN) regularly used to escape from Beijing regulators. Many Apple services are also inaccessible in China – the largest telecoms market in the world -, such as Apple TV +, iTunes Store, paid podcasts, Apple Books and Apple Arcade.
Social discomfort
Central power is subject to an increase in criticism born from social discomfort. In October, anti -government slogans appeared in several cities, including the capital, before the XX e party congress. During demonstrations for democracy in Hong Kong, activists used Airdrop to disseminate their claims. Beijing has also chosen to maintain its “zero covid” policy, involving a severe confinement, tests and quarantines regime as soon as a few cases appear, which arouses distrust in the population.
Airdrop has also been controversial out of China since its launch in 2013 for inappropriate uses. Last year were reported many cases of delayed or canceled air flights after passengers shared false terrorist alerts or pornographic images with their neighbors.