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Apple removed 805 apps in China from 2018 to 2019
Apple is removing hundreds of apps in China at the government’s request, but we don’t know why or what they are
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Over the course of a year, Apple took down 805 apps in mainland China by its own account. In Apple’s latest transparency report accounting for the first half of 2019, the iPhone maker said it removed 288 apps from China’s iOS App Store for both legal and policy violations.
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The Apple Transparency Report goes out twice a year and details requests received from government agencies and private parties worldwide. The report lists government requests to access information on accounts and devices, but the last two reports also include the number of apps Apple removed that period.
When it comes to why those apps are removed, though, Apple is tight-lipped.
The reports cite two reasons for app removals: Platform violations, which covers gambling apps (gambling is illegal in China), and legal violations, which according to Apple usually means apps with pornography (also illegal in China) and other illegal content.
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“Apple's transparency report really ends up creating more questions than providing answers,” said Charlie Smith, the pseudonym of the co-founder of GreatFire, a website that tracks China’s online censorship system.
China’s app stores do have their fair share of shady apps. But according to Smith, Apple doesn’t provide any evidence that removed apps are related to porn or gambling.
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