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Apple Music Caught Censoring Pro-Democracy Music In China (gizmodo.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Chinese journalists and netizens recently found that Apple Music's Chinese streaming service censored a song by Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung that references the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, an extremely politically sensitive topic for the Chinese Communist Party. The incident's 30th anniversary is coming up in June. Sophie Richardson, the China Director at Human Rights Watch, called the reported move "spectacularly craven." The Tiananmen protests are emblematic of a larger pro-democracy movement in China that was snuffed out by the Beijing government. Thousands of protesters were killed, but the exact numbers have themselves been censored by Chinese government officials.
Apple Music has also reportedly censored Anthony Wong and Denise Ho, two pro-democracy singers. After being noticed by Chinese netizens, the removals were reported by the Hong Kong Free Press and The Stand, two Hong Kong-based news outlets. Taiwan News also reported the censorship of Cheung's "Ren Jian Dao." The music remains available on Apple Music's North American products. "By removing a song referring the Tiananmen Massacre, @apple is actively participating in the Chinese Communist Party's agenda of scrubbing the colossal violations it has committed against the Chinese people from collective memory and rewriting history," tweeted Yaqiu Wang, a Chinese researcher with Human Rights Watch.
Apple Music has also reportedly censored Anthony Wong and Denise Ho, two pro-democracy singers. After being noticed by Chinese netizens, the removals were reported by the Hong Kong Free Press and The Stand, two Hong Kong-based news outlets. Taiwan News also reported the censorship of Cheung's "Ren Jian Dao." The music remains available on Apple Music's North American products. "By removing a song referring the Tiananmen Massacre, @apple is actively participating in the Chinese Communist Party's agenda of scrubbing the colossal violations it has committed against the Chinese people from collective memory and rewriting history," tweeted Yaqiu Wang, a Chinese researcher with Human Rights Watch.
Because nothing is more threatening to a walled garden.
Apple is not in the business of free speech, they're in the business of making money. If censoring one song means they can keep making money, they will.
Google complied with Chinese law by ceasing to do business in China. I imagine that opponents of censorship would prefer that Apple follow suit.
The Three T's and X were: Tibet, Tiananmen, Taiwan, and Xinjiang. It was made clear that we (the Westerners) had no knowledge or opinions on these topics. As such we have nothing to say about them.
One day a new assistant asked me about Tiananmen. I asked her what she knew. She told me that her history teacher told her that it was a beautiful park in Beijing where people fly kites. Her grandfather had told her something much more in line with what those of us who watched it life on TV saw.
I was not entirely sure about her at that point, so my answer to her was, "you should honour your grandfather."
She laughed and said, "that is so Chinese." However, she also understood my answer.