Did Apple intentionally allow an app on its Appstore to help the Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters? How far did the location map on Apple devices, the HKmap.live app, help Hong Kong protesters know in advance police moves around the city and circumvent restrictions?
Chinese government mouthpiece People's Daily has bitterly criticised the American smartphone giant over the location map. The article in the Chinese official daily says Apple has lost sense of right and wrong and that it has ignored the truth.
Accusing Apple of complicity with the protesters, the state media report wondered if the Cupertino giant was thinking clearly.
Going further ahead the article accuses Apple of opening the doors to violent protests in the former British colony, where thousands of protesters have been calling for more democratic rights. "Letting poisonous software have its way is a betrayal of the Chinese people's feelings," the paper said, according to Reuters.
The development comes a day after a Hong Kong cabinet member told a news agency that the government was thinking of curbing internet access in the city to stem the protests. A ban on protesters using face masks had failed earlier, adding more teeth to the four-month-long protests.
Over the weekend, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was dragged into the ongoing conflict after the general manager of Houston Rockets tweeted in support of the HK protesters. Amid severe backlash from the Chinese businesses, the tweet was deleted and the NBA management disowned the comment.
The tweet in support of the protesters in the former British colony who are resisting Chinese efforts to further restrict their dwindling freedoms was not exactly a gross violation of any NBA code. Yet the National Basketball Association came down heavily on the Houston Rockets manager and disowned his comments. The franchise also issued a statement dissociating itself from the controversial comments.
