After China described him as a poison .. Apple acquiesces and removes a special application maps Hong Kong
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Apple on Wednesday removed an application from its shop that protesters in Hong Kong used to track police moves through, claiming it violated rules because it was used to ambush police.
Last week, Apple only approved HKmap.live, which shows police and protesters, after it was rejected earlier this month.
The US technology giant has come under fire from China over the application. The state-owned People’s Today newspaper called the application “toxic” and criticized what it said was Apple’s collusion with Hong Kong protesters.
Apple said in a statement that it launched an immediate investigation after “many of the relevant customers in Hong Kong” contacted the company about the application, and Apple found that it has put law enforcement forces and residents at risk.
“The application shows police locations, and we have verified from the Hong Kong Cyber Security and Technological Crimes Bureau that the application has been used to target and ambush police and threaten public safety,” the statement said.
The company also removed BackupHK, a separate application that was a mirror of the main HKMap Live application. Hong Kong police have yet to comment.
The application developer is not compatible with Apple TV One app developer on his Twitter account said he disagreed with Apple’s decision, and there was no evidence to support Hong Kong police claims that the application was used in ambushes.
The developer said that the application collects content from public posts on social networks and that the administrators of the application will delete content that seeks criminal activity and prohibit repeated attempts to post such content in the application.
The developer added that “the majority of user reviews in the application store … says that the application improved public safety for citizens and not vice versa.”
In a separate move, Apple also removed News Quartz from the app store in China because Chinese authorities said the application violated local laws.