Apple: Letting China block apps lets us keep bolstering free speech

Apple told senators that capitulating to the Chinese government’s ban on certain privacy apps would help the iPhone continue to “promote greater opennness [sic] and facilitate the free flow of ideas and information.”

The comments came in a written response to Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who asked the firm in October why it had removed virtual private network (VPN) apps from its Chinese app store.

VPN apps skirt surveillance efforts, including China’s rigid censorship regime. China now requires VPNs to cooperate with its internet filters.

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“We are convinced that Apple can best promote fundamental rights, including the right of free expression, by being engaged even where we may disagree with a particular country’s laws,” said Apple’s letter, dated Tuesday.

Cruz and Leahy had asked Apple to explain why it “enabled” China’s law.

“We are concerned that Apple may be enabling the Chinese government’s censorship and surveillance of the Internet,” they wrote.

Apple emphasized that its iPhone store still tallied more than 1.8 million apps even without the banned VPN apps. They also noted that these apps “have been downloaded more than 71 billion times by our Chinese customers.”