Censorship By Apple
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Censorship by Apple refers to
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...
's removal, omission, or disruption of the spread of content or information from its services or subsidiaries, such as the iTunes Store and the
App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...
, in order to comply with Apple's company policies, legal demands, or various government censorship laws.


iTunes Books

In 2005,
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
banned all books published by
John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Publishing, publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and pr ...
from the
Apple retail stores The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, App ...
in response to their publishing an
unauthorized biography An unauthorized biography, sometimes called a kiss-and-tell, or a tell-all, is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after ...
, ''
iCon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...
''. The book received criticism for "failing to cohesively and clearly express the opinion of Jobs, linguistic redundancies, and clumsy anecdotes." However, despite the criticisms of the quality of Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon's writing and the attempts to highlight Steve Jobs's "negative" characteristics as a boss and individual, thought leader Dan Sumption admitted that the book was a relatively entertaining view into the life of Steve Jobs. The iBooks description for ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' censored the words "
sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...
" as of April 2010. According to ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', four erotic books, including ''Blonde and Wet, the Complete Story'', were allegedly removed from the top 10 chart on July 26, 2010. Northwest Press has had repeated conflicts with Apple's content limitations on sales through the iBooks store. In 2011, an adaptation by Tom Bouden of
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
's play ''
The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...
'' was only approved after the addition of black bars to cover partial male nudity. The technology company initially permitted the individual issues of Jon Macy's ''Fearful Hunter'', but rejected the collected edition, then removed the issues. The satirical ''Al-Qaeda's Super Secret Weapon'' was rejected outright. In 2016, Northwest published a self-censored version of ''Hard to Swallow'' by
Justin Hall Justin Hall (born December 16, 1974, in Chicago, Illinois) is an Americans, American journalist and entrepreneur, best known as a pioneer blogger. Biography Born in Chicago, Hall graduated Francis W. Parker School (Chicago), Francis W. Parker ...
and Dave Davenportcovering the "objectionable" parts with images of appleswhen the original version was rejected due to sexual content.


iTunes Music


Song censorship

There is a policy of censoring
profanity Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally word taboo, offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such a ...
in song titles on iTunes. This has resulted in a Scunthorpe glitch, by which inoffensive titles are censored due to a coincidental string of letters. If the song has an explicit label, it will be marked "explicit" next to the song title. If a song is marked "explicit", then it is unavailable for purchase if "restrict explicit content" is checked under the parental controls preference. Often, there will be a "clean" mark next to the title of some songs, meaning the lyrics have been censored, and is available to purchase on all accounts. Generally, if a song is marked "clean", there is an explicit version available as well.


iTunes Podcasts


''InfoWars''

On August 6, 2018, Apple removed all, but one of the podcasts created by '' InfoWars'', a website owned by
Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...
, a right-wing American
conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
radio-show host and content creator. Apple cited
hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...
as the reason for the removal of the content. Apple's decision to remove this content sparked other major technology companies, including
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
,
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
,
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
, and
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
, into removing InfoWars content.


Apple TV+

In October 2023, Apple canceled '' The Problem with Jon Stewart'' because of editorial disagreements over Stewart's treatment of China and other topics. The cancelation attracted criticism and questions from the
United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party The United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party is a committee of the United States House of Representatives established in the 118th Congress, on January 10, 2023. The ...
.


App Store

The unofficial "Censored on the App Store" logo


Newspaper and magazine content

In May 2009, Apple rejected the first version of "Newspapers", an
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
app that let users read content from 50+ newspapers around the world, including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'',
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
's ''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
'', and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
tabloid ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
''. The app was rejected because the topless "
Page 3 Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature in Novembe ...
" girls daily features were described as "obscene". A second version of the application was submitted, removing access to ''The Sun'', and adding a price tag of £0.59. The app was made available in the summer, after the release of the
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
3.0 software. Another application, of similar nature to 'Newspapers', called 'Eucalyptus' allowed users to download
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
s to their iPhone, though was rejected by Apple because one of the e-books that could have been downloaded was the ''
Kama Sutra The ''Kama Sutra'' (; , , ; ) is an ancient Indian Hindu Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kamasutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions ...
''. The ban has since been lifted. The App Store has ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' and ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' adult-rated apps that have yet to be removed, while some apps by others were removed citing adult content which has resulted in accusations of hypocrisy. Despite this, adult sites continue to market for iPhone and iPad users. In November 2009, the application of ''
Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...
'' (a mainstream German weekly magazine with a print circulation of about 900,000) was deleted for several weeks without warning. In January 2010, Europe's largest newspaper, German tabloid ''
Bild ''Bild'' (, ) or ''Bild-Zeitung'' (, ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' () is published instead, which has a differen ...
'', removed content from the iPhone version of its print edition at the request of Apple, and later it had to modify one of its applicationslike in the ''Stern'' case because of nudity.Mercedes Bunz
German publisher in row with Apple over pin-ups in iPhone app
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', March 9, 2010
The Association of German Magazine Publishers (VDZ) warned that with such interventions Apple might be moving towards censorship. On November 26, 2010, an informational magazine about Google's OS from the Danish publisher ''Mediaprovider'' was not allowed in the app store. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' described rejection of explicit content by Apple as analogous to that of the distributor
WHSmith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service s ...
, a main distributor which for many years imposed content restrictions on British publishers. Workers at the fashion magazine '' Dazed & Confused'' have nicknamed their iPad edition the "
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
edition".


Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoons

In December 2009, Apple banned a cartoon app called NewsToons by cartoonist Mark Fiore, on the grounds that it "ridiculed public figures". In April 2010, Fiore won the Pulitzer Prize for his political satire cartoons, making history as the very first internet-only cartoonist to win the prestigious journalistic prize. Following public outcry after the story broke in the wake of the award, Apple asked Fiore to resubmit his app, and it was subsequently accepted. Fiore said, "Sure, mine might get approved, but what about someone who hasn't won a Pulitzer and who is maybe making a better political app than mine? Do you need some media frenzy to get an app approved that has political material?"


''Baby Shaker''

In April 2009, a game called ''Baby Shaker'' was approved for the App Store then later removed due to complaints. The game allowed the user to shake their phone until an image of a cartoon baby on the screen died.


Nine Inch Nails

In May 2009,
Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...
of the
rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
announced, via his
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account, that Apple had rejected an update to the Nine Inch Nails application due to "objectionable content". The developer posted a message on the Nine Inch Nails discussion boards explaining the situation further: Apple later permitted the update.


iPhone eBook

In December 2009, Ted Lando's eBook app "Take Control of iPhone OS 3" was rejected by Apple. The app was not permitted back into the app store until all references to jailbreaking were removed.


''Phone Story''

In 2011, Apple banned a game called '' Phone Story'' that explored the ethical challenges of smartphone manufacturing, including
conflict minerals The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has a Kivu conflict, history of conflict, where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited from mining while contributing to violence and exploitation during wars in the regio ...
, environmental waste, and troubled labor practices. The game was eventually published on the web by its creator Molleindustria.


Drone strike app

In August 2012, Josh Begley created an iPhone app that sent out a
push notification Push technology, also known as server Push, refers to a communication method, where the communication is initiated by a server rather than a client. This approach is different from the "pull" method where the communication is initiated by a client ...
whenever a U.S. military
UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...
struck a target. The app was rejected because of Apple finding the content "objectionable and crude".


Utilities

On March 11, 2013, HiddenApps was approved and appeared in the App Store. This app provided access to developer diagnostic menus, allowed for stock Apps to be hidden and enabled an opt-out feature for iAds, Apple's developer driven advertisement system.


Educational app

In July 2013, a tech education startup called Treehouse claimed that Apple had refused to let them release an iOS app that contained lessons about Android.


''Papers, Please''

The video game ''
Papers, Please ''Papers, Please'' is a puzzle simulation video game created by indie game developer Lucas Pope, developed and published through his production company, 3909 LLC. The game was released on August 8, 2013, for Microsoft Windows and OS X, for ...
'', centered around the operation of a border checkpoint, was brought to iPad in December 2014, but developer
Lucas Pope Lucas Pope (born ) is an American video game designer. He is best known for experimental indie games, notably ''Papers, Please'' and '' Return of the Obra Dinn'', both of which won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize alongside other awards. Early l ...
was forced to remove some pixelated nudity from the game's full-body scanner to be allowed to release the game for Apple devices. After a few days, Pope was permitted to upload a full version of the game to the App Store including pixelated nudity in an apparent reversal by Apple. However, it is still rated 17+ on the App Store.


''France Musique'' app removal

On May 4, 2015, Apple removed the
France Musique France Musique () is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on classical music and jazz. History The channel was lau ...
application from its App store due to the airing of "inappropriate content" in a podcast. The application displayed a painting by Édouard Manet, '' Olympia'', depicting mild nudity. The podcast application was submitted to the App Store again, with a 17+ rating.


Chaos Computer Club videos about security vulnerabilities

In October 2015, Apple rejected a custom streaming application for Apple TV that was created by some members of the
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
branch of
Chaos Computer Club The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is Europe's largest association of Hacker (computer security), hackers with 7,700 registered members. Founded in 1981, the association is incorporated as an ''eingetragener Verein'' in Germany, with local chapters ...
, Europe's largest hacker association. The application was meant to show recordings of talks from Chaos Computer Club's conferences. According to a blog post that was written about the incident, Apple's reason was because "some of the videos show how to hack Apple devices". The recordings are publicly available and are hosted on YouTube as well. Using the YouTube app still allows playback of the content on Apple devices.


''The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth''

Apple banned the video game '' The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth'' from appearing in the iOS App Store due to its cartoon depictions of violence towards children. The game was subsequently accepted in the next year, with a 17+ rating.


Telegram and Telegram X

In February 2018, Apple removed
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
and Telegram X, encrypted messaging applications made by Telegram Messenger LLP, from the App Store due to content deemed inappropriate. Apple specifically cited instances of child pornography that was made available to users, and subsequently banned the apps until the situation could be dealt with.


''InfoWars''

Apple removed the ''InfoWars'' app from the App Store in September 2018 citing content that violated their policy against indecent material. Apple's ban simply prevents users from downloading the app, but does not restrict access to those with the app installed.


Tumblr

In November 2018, Apple removed the
Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...
app from the App Store due to Tumblr's failure to filter child pornography. Tumblr uses a database of known child pornography to automatically detect and remove child pornography from their website, however they found evidence of images that were not in the database present on Tumblr. In response to the ban, Tumblr removed the instances of child pornography and has since moved to ban all pornographic material on their platform as of December 17, 2018.


Historical games

In December 2018, Apple removed the strategy game ''Afghanistan '11'' due to the fact that it featured real-life combatants. Slitherine, the developers of the game, countered that the main objectives focused on supporting Afghan civilians rather than defeating the Taliban. This followed a temporary ban of the game ''Ultimate General: Gettysburg'' for featuring the Confederate flag in historical context.


HKmap

In October 2019, Apple removed the HKmap.live app from its App Store. HKMap is used to track the locations of protests and police in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. Apple stated that the app "allowed users to evade law enforcement".


"Apple takes 30% of this purchase." in Facebook events

In 2020, Apple forced
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
to remove a message informing users that Apple took a 30% cut of all fees for paid online events. Apple claimed that the notification was against the App Store policy on "irrelevant" information, a position Facebook disagreed with.


Navalny

In 2021, Apple and Google removed the Navalny app from the App Store and Google Play Store respectively. The app was pulled the day of Russia's parliamentary elections which cause the app's creator,
Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...
, and his supporters to claim that the two companies are taking part in political suppression. Apple sent a letter to Navalny's affiliates stating that the app had content that is illegal in Russia.


Censorship by country

The following are instances of censorship and information control imposed by Apple in App Stores other than the United States App Store. Many were imposed due to pressure from foreign governments and were put into effect to comply with laws. The restrictions, however, are applied even after the user moves to another country, unless they change the region of their Apple ID, which requires cancelling existing subscriptions and setting up a new payment method.


China

As early as 2015, Apple shut off its News app inside China. In 2017, Apple removed apps from the Chinese App Store that allowed users to access content forbidden by the Chinese government. Many of these apps gave users access to
virtual private network Virtual private network (VPN) is a network architecture for virtually extending a private network (i.e. any computer network which is not the public Internet) across one or multiple other networks which are either untrusted (as they are not con ...
s that could allow them to circumvent the
Great Firewall The Great Firewall (GFW; ) is the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the China, People's Republic of China to regulate the Internet domestically. Its role in internet censorship in China is to block access to selected ...
. Apple did not cite any Chinese laws, but claimed that the apps broke the laws of their local governments. Among the apps removed was VyprVPN, an app by Golden Frog, a company which had filed an '' amicus'' brief supporting Apple during the
Apple–FBI encryption dispute The Apple–FBI encryption dispute concerns whether and to what extent courts in the United States can compel manufacturers to assist in unlocking cell phones whose data are Cryptography, cryptographically protected. There is much debate over ...
. Apple is the first foreign global technology company to concede to the Chinese government's demands. Apple removes VPNs from the Chinese App Store in order to comply with the Chinese government and stay in the market. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, stated that if they censor now, the rules for censorship in China may relax. In 2018, Apple restricted the
emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...
of the
flag of the Republic of China The flag of the Republic of China, commonly called the flag of Taiwan, consists of a red field with a blue canton bearing a white disk surrounded by twelve triangles; said symbols symbolize the sun and rays of light emanating from it, res ...
on devices used in
mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
. The same year, Apple removed the
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...
app in China at the behest of the
Cyberspace Administration of China The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC; ) is the national internet regulator and censor of the People's Republic of China. The agency was initially established in 2011 by the State Council as the State Internet Information Office (SIIO) ...
. In 2018, Apple's restrictions on sending the word "
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
" or sending an
emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...
representing the
flag of Taiwan The flag of the Republic of China, commonly called the flag of Taiwan, consists of a red field with a blue Canton (flag), canton bearing a white disk surrounded by Dodecagram, twelve triangles; said symbols symbolize the sun and rays of lig ...
on iDevices using a Chinese
country code A country code is a short alphanumeric identification code for countries and dependent areas. Its primary use is in data processing and communications. Several identification systems have been developed. The term ''country code'' frequently re ...
or language settings caused the devices to crash. Artists who reference the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...
have had some or all of their music removed from iTunes, including
Jacky Cheung Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. One of the most influential artists in the Greater China region, Cheung is widely regarded as a Heavenly King of Cantopop music and an icon of Hong Kong popular culture. He ...
Hok-yau and
Tat Ming Pair Tat Ming Pair () is an experimental Cantopop duo formed in Hong Kong in 1985 by composer Tats Lau (劉以達) and vocalist Anthony Wong Yiu-ming (黃耀明). Their blend of Cantopop, synthpop, new wave and electronic dance music with lyrics th ...
. In July 2020, Apple removed 3,300 unlicensed games from the Chinese App Store. Five months later, Apple removed a further 48,000 unlicensed games from the Chinese App Store. Removed apps included '' Asphalt 8: Airborne'', ''
Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...
'', and '' Fruit Ninja''. In 2021, Apple removed a
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
app and a
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
app from the China App Store. Apple also removed a popular daily prayer app for Muslims from China. The
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
' app was removed in May 2020. In October 2022, following the 2022 Beijing Sitong Bridge protest, Apple released an update which limited the
AirDrop An airdrop is a type of airlift in which items including weapons, equipment, humanitarian aid or leaflets are delivered by military or civilian aircraft without their landing. Developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible tr ...
functionality on
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
s and
iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
s purchased in China, changing the option of "Receive from Everyone" to "Everyone for 10minutes". The following month, Apple removed the TaiwanPlus app from the China App Store. In August 2023, Apple removed AI apps from Chinese App Store. In April 2024, Apple removed Threads,
WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...
,
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
, and
Signal A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...
from the Chinese App Store.


Iran

In February 2017, Apple restricted payment services in Iranian apps to comply with U.S. sanctions that forbade Iranian currency from entering the United States. The Iranian apps responded by implementing an Iranian electronic payment service. In August 2017, Apple removed many Iranian apps from the App Store citing U.S. sanctions placed on Iran. While Apple has neither stores in Iran nor specific versions of the App Store for the country, Iranian citizens are able to get access to Apple products and content from external sources. Apple removed many apps developed specifically for Iranians, including a ride-sharing service called Snapp!, and a food delivery service called DelionFoods.


Russia

In May 2018, Apple played a role in the censorship of
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
, an encrypted messaging app used globally. Interested in surveying the encrypted messages, the Russian government demanded Telegram provide decryption keys to their Federal Security Service. When Telegram refused, the Russian Government threatened Apple with legal repercussions if they did not block Telegram from the Russian App Store and eliminate the push notification feature. The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has publicly claimed Apple has restricted Telegram users across the world from updating their app; an action that could cause problems for Telegram's ability to meet regulations.


Taiwan

In August 2021,
Citizen Lab The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness an ...
at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
found that Apple censors engravings in Taiwan related to the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
, mainland Chinese state bodies, and
Falun Gong Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...
.


See also

*
Censorship by Google Google and its subsidiary companies, such as YouTube, have removed or omitted information from its services in order to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws. Numerous governments have asked Google to censor ...
* *
Censorship of Twitter Censorship of Twitter/X refers to Internet censorship by governments that block access to Twitter (officially known as X since July 2023). Twitter censorship also includes governmental notice and take down requests to Twitter, which it enforce ...
*
Censorship of YouTube Censorship of video-sharing platform YouTube occurs to varying degrees in many countries. General YouTube blocking occurs for a variety of reasons including: * Preventing criticism of a ruler, government, government officials, religion, or r ...


References

{{Internet censorship by country
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
Self-censorship Apple Inc. ITunes IOS jailbreaking