Apple’s China ties under Congressional scrutiny after Jon Stewart cancellation | Lawmakers demand that Apple commit to not censoring content critical of China.::Lawmakers demand that Apple commit to not censoring content critical of China.
Cool, cool, cool.
And just Apple’s word and a pinkie swear is enough to trust that they won’t censor content for China?
Wake the fuck up, Congress.
Businesses don’t give one good god damn about democracy. They don’t give one good god damn about allegiances to one nation over another. They give a damn about money, so unless you plan on making Apple open up their fucking internal records and fucking show you that they’re not capitulating to China or anyone else, you can bet your ass they are.
How do all these fucking self-professed capitalists on Capitol Hill not understand how capitalism works?
EDIT: I want to make clear, this isn’t meant to be a “China BAD” post. It’s a “You can’t trust people whose bottom line is always money” post. Who they capitulate to is less important than the fact that they’re willing to toss out morals and ethics for money.
How is this any different from networks firing hosts / pulling content because sponsors threaten to pull their ads?
I’m fully on the “fuck corps that cave to China’s childish demands” side. I’m still boycotting Blizzard after the Free HK scandal.
But I think it’s their choice to capitulate for access to China’s market, and it’s my choice to stop doing business with them as a result. I don’t think it’s the government’s place to essentially tell a company they can’t do business in China, unless it’s literally a national security thing like electronics with Spyware / backdoors.
I’ll make the “China bad” post. There are very few governments with an ego as fragile as China’s. It barely even makes sense since they have the weight and soft power to lead by example, or develop healthy ties with the rest of the world. But they just. Don’t. It really gives the impression that all is not well within their borders.
They are paid very handsomely to not wake up. Things need to change.
Apple would no doubt prefer to have its cake and eat it too—keep the show and its revenue without facing retaliation from the CCP. If Congress gives them a plausible excuse to do that, why wouldn’t they?
And just Apple’s word and a pinkie swear is enough to trust that they won’t censor content for China?
Probably not, no. But before smashing down the door guns blazing… how about a polite knock on the door and a few simple questions?
Doesn’t mean you trust the answers, but it’s worth asking first. Because they might have an answer you weren’t expecting such as “yeah I’m pretty sure it was the house next door that had screams coming out of it half an hour ago… whoever called 911 gave you the wrong address”.
Maybe they cancelled the show because nobody was watching it, and the fact an episode china might not have linked was just a coincidence.
You’re really pulling for straws here when the reason is obvious.
Yea… I mean, Apple TV is not a cash cow. But iPhones on the other hand…
Lawmakers wrote that Cook’s “recent trip to Beijing” makes it appear as if “maintaining a positive relationship with the CCP may be a priority given ongoing supply chain and financial dependencies.”
Ffffuuuccccckkkk China the government. Get your fucking jets out of Taiwan airspace. Each time you do(5am), our jets have to scramble and it wakes everyone up. Fucking stop. We trying to sleep.
I am very sorry you all are living like that, it would drive me mad.
It’s worse right now because the next Taiwan election is coming up soon and they want to intimidate us into voting for the KMT faction which wants to merge into the CCP.
Real question. Does Tiwan in average care for English speaking tourists? Because I’d love to bring my family. I have always wanted to go to china too, but, yeah, maybe not.
It does, you will feel very welcome there. In Taipei, English is no problem at all
If you come here, you will almost be treated like a celebrity. Almost everyone speaks English or tries extremely hard to communicate with you. If you have kids, it’s a very kid friendly country. They value kids welfare above all. So you will find many places are geared towards family and moms and kids.
If you come here and visit. Feel free to DM me. I’ll give you some pointers!
Imagine thinking Jon Stewart of all people wouldn’t talk about certain political situations. Apple TV + looks like it won’t last long if all their content is pandering to Winnie.
When has Jon ever shied away from any discussion?
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Padme: These protections will extend to criticisms of Israel, right?
Anakin: …
Has someone’s show been cancelled over criticisms of Israel?
I’d consider Israel’s recent movements, to ban Journalism the government disagrees with, to be far more dangerous that a private company cancelling a show…
Sure, but I mean in countries like US.
China bans all kinds of stuff within their own borders already and nobody bats an eye…
Not a TV show specifically, but Ai Weiwei’s gallery exhibition in London was canceled due to a tweet he posted regarding the Hamas attack and Israel. Whatever you feel about their specific comments or circumstances, several individuals and events have been affected due to an actual or perceived pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel message.
https://forward.com/culture/567702/palestinian-cultural-events-cancelled-censorship-israel/
It’s illegal to boycott Israel in 35 states, does that count?
Apple, first trillion dollar company by being cheap pieces of shit and overcharging for cheap products made in China. Fuck apple.
Ties to China?? Uhh how about “hundreds of millions of people in China buy our phones” and that’s a lottttttt of money"
Ideally we wouldn’t sacrifice our ideals of freedom for money. This is America though and we’re all capitalist whores first and foremost though.
I think compelled speech is as legal as prohibited speech. Great that Congress develops a spine in an issue they’re legally incapable of affecting.
Congress is absolutely capable of affecting this. For example they could force Apple to withdraw from China (they way they have done with Nvidia).
(I’m not saying they will, but they definitely could)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
These steps, lawmakers wrote, are critical to help address “broader concerns about indirect Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence over the creative expression of American artists and companies on CCP-related topics.”
Lawmakers wrote that Cook’s “recent trip to Beijing” makes it appear as if “maintaining a positive relationship with the CCP may be a priority given ongoing supply chain and financial dependencies.”
“We support the ability of artists, writers, studios, and streaming services alike to create content without fear of potential CCP retaliation and punishment,” lawmakers wrote.
“We similarly encourage American technology companies to diversify their supply chains, reduce their potential susceptibility to CCP pressure, and decrease their overall dependence on” China.
That is the primary focus of the House’s Select Committee on Competition with the Chinese Communist Party, and in the lawmakers’ letter to Cook, they said that “potential decisions to not renew shows, or not produce a film or show in the first place, due to anticipated CCP objections to particular content deny US viewers and global audiences access to important information” about China that “reflects a broader variety of perspectives” and “speaks to an important geopolitical challenge of our time.”
Lawmakers noted that if a major star like Jon Stewart can be censored, there can be little hope for “an aspiring comedian who wants to use satire to make broader points about human rights and authoritarianism.”
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W
Couldn’t have said it better myself
Hoc cogito, ergo dico hoc
Next Wednesday they’ll demand censorship of content critical of Israel and the US MIC as “disinformation”.
John Stewart is very smart and incredibly capable in his space but my god is he not funny. His comedy is the worst part of any of his shows, I hope they continue this because he is very passionate and informative but it probably wasn’t all that popular either in comparison to John Oliver.
Bullshit to be cancelled for criticism of China though.
Stewart pages the way for Oliver and Colbert. He was absolutely the funniest guy on TV. I do believe that his passion about setting things straight for the better of him.
Like a joker broken by the extreme sadness underlying what he used to make fun of. He cannot unsee the seriousness.
Absolutely he did, he is probably funny in person but where his greatness lies is his understanding and passion. He doesn’t end up in situations he can’t speak about, he is always well informed down to the small pieces and he has a decent ability to bring back lavity to a conversation to keep it going but comedy isn’t in his top three skills
