Bad news for political activists who used their iPhones to distribute posters and leaflets against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Apple has just released an iOS update for iPhones sold in China to restrict the use of AirDrop this Thursday, November 10, 2022.
10 minutes of service opening, not one more
Political activism against the CCP has just taken a turn for the worse. An update of iOS comes, in fact, to put in difficulty those who used AirDrop to pass political leaflets to strangers encountered along their way in all discretion. This practice had the advantage for the militants of escaping Beijing’s radars. Now, instead of an unlimited time, AirDrop can only be used for 10 minutes a day to send files to individuals not in the phone’s contact list.
iPhone owners must also knowingly enable AirDrop by allowing strangers to send them a file. Suffice to say that this solution almost disappears from the possibilities of parade found by the opponents of the regime in place in China.
On the Apple side, it’s radio silence. In the note of its latest update, Apple simply states that it ” includes bug fixes and security updates “. The firm also did not respond to the request issued by AFP. Be careful though if you bought your iPhone in China, because according to RFIthese models, once updated, suffer from AirDrop usage restriction even if you are not a Chinese national.
Political opposition is increasingly muzzled in China
The 20e the CCP congress, which ended on October 24, 2022 with a broad consensus in the party around the third term of outgoing President Xi Jimping, is however not to the taste of all Chinese. On the sidelines of this major political event in the country, activists tried somehow to express their discontent, including via AirDrop.
The cleaning on national social networks, in particular WeChat and Weibo, was draconian to remove all traces of these acts of rebellion embodied by Peng Lifa, who had unfurled a banner hostile to Xi Jimping on a bridge on October 14, 2022. Accounts having advocates of these actions have been suspended. Quoted by RFIa Weibo user nevertheless attempted a joke about the CEO of Apple: “ So, is Tim Cook a Party member or not? “.
Others are delighted with this measure, still on Weibo, allowing in particular to ” reduce the likelihood of iPhone owners being harassed “. In any case, this action testifies to the increasingly powerful strike force of the CCP to maintain its base in the country.
Sources: RFI, IFRI, Bloomberg
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