The biggest story in tech yesterday — and what looks to be a huge story going forward — is the growing tension big tech companies in America face because of their dealings with China. You surely know the outlines of the original Rockets Tweet Heard ‘Round The World, but the NBA’s desire not to offend the sensibilities of the authoritarian Chinese government is part of a huge debate that isn’t limited to basketball.
It’s here for big tech, revealing tensions that have always been there but are being thrown into stark relief right now.
I don’t have really satisfying things to say about all this, mainly because I don’t think the outlines of what’s happening and what’s going to happen are filled-in enough yet. Also, I should mention that I’m writing this on Wednesday evening and sending it out Thursday morning, and in the interim the story could change yet again. But I’ll at least drop a few notes that I think are worth thinking about after the links.
- Dieter
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Why is big tech in America capitulating to Chinese censorship?
As the protests in Hong Kong continue, every US-based company that does significant business in China is already facing — or should be prepared for — some kind of reckoning. Adi Robertson does an excellent job explaining the outlines of what’s happening and what’s coming here:
+ The NBA is afraid of offending China and so are online platforms
I want to point to the wave of stories from the past couple days, not because I can turn them into a clear narrative to help you understand what it all means, but because I can’t. There’s too much, it’s too big, and it’s happening too fast.
It is hitting hardest in the gaming industry, where massive businesses built on streaming and games have turned into a fascinating and terrifying discussion of speech, power, money, and freedom:
+ Hearthstone player banned for supporting Hong Kong protesters during live stream
+ Unlike Blizzard, Epic Games says it wont banplayers for political speech
+ Blizzard employees walked out in protest following pro-Hong Kong player ban
+ After Hearthstone players ban, Blizzard is in hot water with lawmakers
It’s not strictly US companies, either. Many people — and now lawmakers — are waking up to the fact that the parent company for TikTok is a Chinese conglomerate. What will that mean for speech on that platform in the US? Or elsewhere?
+ TikTok should be investigated for censorship, Marco Rubio says
I do hope that the people inside Google who made the decision to pull out of China all those years ago aren’t feeling too cocky about all this drama, by the way. It’s not like Google wasn’t thinking of heading back — and it’s not like there aren’t other authoritarian regimes around the world it will have to contend with.
Now the focus is turning to Apple, as it inevitably would.
Apple prides itself as a bulwark for privacy, but those values are not in sync with the Chinese government that has significant power over Apple’s ability to make money in China — a huge part of Apple’s business.
+ Apple is hiding Taiwans flag emoji if you’re in Hong Kong or Macau
+ Apple removes Quartz news app from the Chinese App Store over Hong Kong coverage
Pay special attention to the second story, where Nick Statt really lays out some of the challenges Apple faces: it makes and sells phones in China, but it goes beyond that. Apple’s curated App Store model means that it takes responsibility for the content that is — and isn’t — allowed on the store. Which means that from time to time it will engage in censorship of content that would be allowed here in the US.
I have no idea how Apple maintains the moral high ground if stories like these stay in the news week after week. I would like to believe that Apple isn’t planning on hunkering down and waiting for this to just blow over. I’m not asking for a Google / Facebook style exit from China altogether (not that Apple could pull that off, given how much manufacturing infrastructure it needs there), but the volume of Apple’s silence right now is deafening.
And even since I wrote the preceding paragraphs, more has happened. Apple has banned an app that showed the location of police in Hong Kong. This will be interpreted as a move supporting the government and as anti-protestor by many, but Apple is issuing a statement defending the move.
I do not know where to even start with this. If you trust Apple, it reads as a rational decision based on protecting public safety. If you don’t, it reads as straight up propaganda. Every sentence can be seen as a typical US corporation in crisis PR mode, obviously. But there are a few where — if you were so inclined — you would read as coming from a dictatorial government lying to your face and daring you to say it’s a lie.
We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps. We have learned that an app, HKmap.live, has been used in ways that endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong. Many concerned customers have contacted us about this app and we immediately began investigating it. The app displays police locations and we have verified with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau that the app has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement. This app violates our guidelines and local laws, and we have removed it from the App Store
This is what happens with authoritarian regimes: you cease to trust any official statements because there’s no way of knowing if the institutions behind those statements are acting in good faith.
The thing that should trouble Apple and all of us is that the actions of a repressive regime in China has us second guessing the statements Apple is releasing in California.
This is all moving very fast, so if you’re hoping for a big step-back piece that manages to explain it all, I don’t have it for you. It’s a set of issues I encourage you to pay attention to, even if you can’t form an opinion on any of it right away.
We have allowed a few corporations to grow to the point where they have the size, money, and impact of actual governments. We shouldn’t be surprised, then, when they get embroiled in — and compromised by — geopolitics.
