Apple purged “The New York Times” news app from its application store for China in December, citing media restrictions in the country.
“For some time now the New York Times app has not been permitted to display content to most users in China and we have been informed that the app is in violation of local regulations,” Fred Sainz, an Apple spokesman based in California, told the New York Times. “As a result, the app must be taken down off the China App Store. When this situation changes, the App Store will once again offer the New York Times app for download in China.”
The Chinese government started blocking the New York Times’ websites in 2012 due to a series of stories detailing the massive wealth of the family of then-Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, according to the publication itself. (RELATED: China Battles For Internet Hegemony After America Gives Up Control)
Apple officially removed the English-language and Chinese-language apps from the app store on Dec. 23, but other big name media outlets like The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are still permitted on the app store, according to NYT.
Tech companies that started in America, like Apple, try to comply with foreign laws as a means to appease the respective governments, and subsequently remain available to its people.
China passed the U.S. as Apple’s biggest iPhone market in April of 2015.
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