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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

#431

Post by tripzilch »

afwe wrote: post #81
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…

>Through what right or means can Apple demand this, though? The App Store is theirs and they will kick you out if they don't like you. Isn't that good enough?

That's just why they can. But no it's not good enough. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean it's right.

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

#432

Post by dantheman »

Klinky wrote: post #420
abledon wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its his fiduciary duty, the obligation to maximize profits for the shareholders.

Odd how the markets optimize for colluding with dictators and human-rights violating regimes. Such prosperity they bring the world.

Odd how every non market alternative is normally one of those human right violating machines and actively collaborates with them -- far more than those in markets do.

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

#433

Post by nix23 »

airstrike wrote: post #352
nix23 wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Can we start a GoFundMe to have Tim answer it? Who do you want to fund? Tim or the Question? Or do you think he should just answer questions if he's paid for it, because Apple has zero responsibility at all...oh right they don't.

I think the idea is to fund a collaborative effort to nag Mr. Cook until he answers the question

>nag Mr. Cook

Not possible. Exception, don't buy apple products.

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

#434

Post by akudha »

whimsicalism wrote: post #400
akudha wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would this blow up in their face? Have you seen the lines outside Apple stores whenever they launch a new product? Apple customers do not care. There is a small minority of people who care (like people on this site) but I bet even they will continue to buy Apple products. We are talking about a mind bogglingly rich company with arrogance to match. Even if this gets them bad PR, it will be forgotten in a few minut…

Not me. I feel like Apple has to actually compete with often times higher quality luxury products in 2020. No reason for me to buy any new Apple products and after this news, I won’t.

But you are in the minority. Also, what other alternatives do we have? Google, Amazon, Microsoft... all equally bad or worse. I can't think of any big tech company really standing up to authoritarian (or even democratic) governments, can you?

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

#435

Post by zepto »

extropy wrote: post #407
zepto wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what? If that was a practical means of installing it for most people, the governments would go after whoever hosts the APK.

That is a way more difficult target to hit. People can follow a 3 step instruction easily enough. That's kinda the point that having a single controlling entity makes the ecosystem vulnerable to this kind of pressure.

People don’t follow 3 step instructions easily enough. That’s exactly why Apple is so successful.

I wish it weren’t so.

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

#436

Post by qPM9l3XJrF »

esperent wrote: post #428
qPM9l3XJrF wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Nothing because Apple has ZERO, no place meddling in this business. Not meddling means enforcing its TOS in an evenhanded way. Otherwise it's playing favorites.

When one side is an illegitimate government who stole an election, and the other side is millions of people fighting for democracy and freedom, possibly, just possibly, it's time to pick a side. Even if you're a huge amoral profit driven company who's fear of losing 0.1% of your profit precludes you from taking sides... Well, maybe just sit this one out?

So Apple is now in charge of deciding whether elections are legitimate?

It's weird how people in this thread are zigzagging between saying Apple has too much corporate power and Apple needs much more.

Does every country in the world really have to be a democracy? Remember how the Arab Spring turned out?

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

#437

Post by whimsicalism »

akudha wrote: post #434
whimsicalism wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not me. I feel like Apple has to actually compete with often times higher quality luxury products in 2020. No reason for me to buy any new Apple products and after this news, I won’t.

But you are in the minority. Also, what other alternatives do we have? Google, Amazon, Microsoft... all equally bad or worse. I can't think of any big tech company really standing up to authoritarian (or even democratic) governments, can you?

I agree. But Google's phones are better (in my opinion), the only reason I bought an iPhone is for privacy reasons - if Apple is going to renege on that branding, then no reason not to go back to the better product.

Apple was banking on privacy marketing as a competitive edge. I think that was a good strategy. Since they appear to be worse at executing on that strategy than I thought they would be, they are losing that segment of the market.

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

#438

Post by [deleted] »

_RPL5_ wrote: post #102

Here is a source in Russian [0] saying that Apple is asking Telegram to remove messages that de-anonymize Belorussian police members, rather than blocking channels outright. I don't know whether their source is reliable, but here is the relevant snippet (google translate): > Apple says it didn’t require any channels to be removed. But they demanded to immediately remove any information that discloses someone's data o…

[deleted]

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

#439

Post by rpdillon »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #369
herbstein wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some instances, like standing up to a violent, oppressive, and dictatorial regime violence is generally considered an acceptable form of political action.

Even if that's true - and I'm not going to get into that debate here - surely that doesn't mean that every company has to allow their products to become tools of mass violence.

> allow their products to become tools

This is precisely why lack of choice in app stores is so harmful. The phones belong to the people. Without the app store, the manufacturer has no grounds to allow or disallow behavior.

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