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Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

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Re: Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

#91

Post by M4v3R »

john_minsk wrote: post #14
threeseed wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are those shows likely to incite violence which may result in people being killed ? Because in Hong Kong similar channels were used to kill police. This isn't a simple question of censorship.

What about people who ARE killed as a result of police thinking they are anonymous and they won't be prosecuted no matter what?

I guess it's a double-edged sword. On one hand it's horrible that people are being killed by the police in Belarus. On the other hand giving platform to anyone to put someone's name and address out there possibly leading to innocent people being lynched or killed by the mob because almost no one will verify whether that someone was really to blame is also terrible.

In my view it's one of those situations when Apple is damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

Re: Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

#93

Post by ffpip »

yossarian1408 wrote: post #58
skocznymroczny wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This isn't a simple question of censorship. That's why we can't let corporations decide on that

Why not? If Instagram or Apple censors certain content, consumers can choose to move to Snapchat or Android, etc. If a government censors certain content, that's the end of the story.

Instagram can censor content on Instagram.

Apple can censor content on the App Store. They should not do anything inside the apps on App Store.

Re: Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

#94

Post by paulcarroty »

usr1106 wrote: post #23
ngcc_hk wrote: post #11

A problem hk faced as well. But to threat to shut down telegram is not the right move. You do not kill a platform.

Don't be so optimistic. Apple and Google are a duopoly to control mobile messaging (outside of China). Not for me, I use a Linux phone (Sailfish OS) with no Google. Not for real activists (criminals in the eyes es of oppressive governments like Chaina, Belarus, Russia, Iran, Turkey, ...) who will always find their way. But for 98% of any population.

> I use a Linux phone (Sailfish OS)

Seems funny: proprietary OS plus the company cooperate with Russian government.

Re: Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

#95

Post by saagarjha »

threatofrain wrote: post #89
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #6

Through what right or means can Apple demand this, though? Telegram is a platform for user-generated content and it seems odd for Apple to single-out those 3 channels/groups specifically - what about the hundreds of thousands of other objectionable groups on Telegram? And why Telegram in particular? Why doesn't Apple give the same ultimatum to Facebook to pressure them to block access to militant ethnonationalist gro…

Apple operates in Belarus and must respond to the pressures of the government. Americans would find it intrusive if Apple was strong enough to tell the US govt to back off.

Apple has tried in the past, of course. I believe the policy they say they take is “we respect the law in the country we operate in”. It’s not clear if this was something that the law mandated; if it wasn’t to be morally consistent they should have pushed back like they have in the US.

Re: Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

#96

Post by saagarjha »

samat wrote: post #78

Apple reps told Russian media outlet TJournal that they did not demand channel takedown, they requested to take down only specific posts containing personal information of police officers. https://tjournal.ru/tech/221326-apple-zayavila-chto-ne-trebo...

That’s not much better.

Re: Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

#98

Post by jarym »

> Previously, when removing posts at Apple’s request, Telegram replaced those posts with a notice that cited the exact rule limiting such content for iOS users. However, Apple reached out to us a while ago and said our app is not allowed to show users such notices because they were “irrelevant”.

Shame on Apple really. Shame on them for creating a walled garden that has become a liability for multiple parties even those unconnected to the iOS ecosystem.

“Irrelevant” could turn into the mother of all class action lawsuits.

Re: Apple tells Telegram to take down protestor channels in Belarus

#99

Post by luckylion »

ignoramous wrote: post #82
barumi wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It´s like Apple wants to enforce censorship on behalf of oppressing dictatorships, but doesn´t want to deal with the consequences of enforcing censorship on behalf of oppressing dictatorships.

It hurts their PR. They can't be out there doing ad campaigns taking a dig at the Facebooks and the Googles of the world whilst overtly abiding to the whims of totalitarian regimes.

But it's Belarus, the government is highly unpopular in the West and not really popular anywhere else. And it's not like China where they'd lose a giant market if they decided to stand up to the government, Belarus has a population of under 10m with an average income of under $6k a year.

It might just be about doxxing, but the PR problem remains, of course.

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