This archive report was first published on 10 October 2019.
On October 9, 2019, Apple faced intense criticism from Chinese state media for allowing an app that enabled protesters in Hong Kong to track police, plunging the technology giant deeper into the increasingly politicized atmosphere in China.
Apple removed the app, called HKmap.live, from its iPhone App Store just days after approving it, citing concerns that authorities in Hong Kong said protesters were using it to attack police there.
The app displayed police locations, and Apple claimed that it had been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and victimize residents in areas where there was no law enforcement.
Apple's reversal on the app comes amid intense pressure from the Chinese government on multinational companies to stay out of the continuing protests in Hong Kong. China had recently canceled broadcasts of exhibition N.B.A. games in China after the general manager of the Houston Rockets tweeted in support of the protests.
