In light of Apple removing a protest tracker in its App Store, the Cupertino-based company was reported to tell its Apple TV+ show runners to avoid portraying China ‘in a negative light’.
The words were rumored to be spoken by Eddy Cue and Morgan Wandell, head of Apple international content development. It looks like they were trying to avoid the 2016 incident, where iTunes Movie and iBooks stores were closed down in China in 2016.
Hollywood producers aren’t fazed by the directive. One creator says that it happens all the time and is considered acceptable practice. App developers also say that these incidents are quite common in that their apps could be removed from the App Store after a complaint from the Chinese government.
Tim Cook explained in a press release that the removal of HKmap.live was due to the fact that it was being used to target police. Apple continues to experience pushbacks regarding the decision.