Apple quietly lifts ban on ‘China uncensored’
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, May 18: Apple has now waived off its ban on satirical news show ‘China uncensored’ from the App stores in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Apple has quietly unblocked US satirical news show ‘China uncensored’ that it has previously blocked not just in China but also in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well on April 4.
“After weeks of pressure, Apple did unblock us quietly. Its like when you fart in a room full of people but instead of apologizing you just quietly opened a window,” Chris Chappell, the host of the show said in an announcement he made on YouTube.
The tech company’s censoring of China Uncensored was widely covered across news media. The satirical news show further launched an online petition, ‘Apple: Stop Censoring China Uncensored’ addressed to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. The petition was signed by more than ten thousand people.
Apple, having approved the China Uncensored Apple TV app in March 2017 for availability in most part of the world, removed it from app stores in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan according to a press release of the news show.
The satirical news show which offers a comedic spin on news stories from China and is often critical of the Chinese Communist Party was first launched in 2012 on YouTube. The show is now also aired on New York-based New Tang Dynasty TV, a station founded by Falun Gong practitioners in 2001 as a Chinese-language broadcaster and has expanded its language offerings with correspondents in over 70 cities worldwide covering topics that are censored in China.
