APPS
APPS
APPS
Apple bows to pressure and shows Crimea as part of Russia in its Maps app
Apple Inc. has made some changes to its Maps and Weather apps and made Crimea part of Russian territory.
Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula back in 2014, which was roundly criticized by much of the international community. The U.S., along with the EU, doesn’t recognize the annexation. The changes Apple just made won’t affect anyone outside of Russia, meaning only Russians will see Crimea as part of their country on those apps.
According to a report Wednesday by the BBC, Apple had been in talks with the Russian government for “several months” and had originally wanted to show Crimea as an undefined territory. That didn’t happen, which has led some observers to suggest this is another case of a tech company kowtowing to a government.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko condemned the move. “iPhones are great products,” he tweeted on Wednesday night. “Seriously, though, @Apple, please, please, stick to high-tech and entertainment. Global politics is not your strong side.”
“The Apple representative informed the Chairman of the Committee that inaccuracy in displaying the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as the territory of the Russian Federation in the Maps and Weather apps on Apple devices were finally removed,” said a statement on the State Duma website.
Vasily Piskaryov, chairman of the Duma security and anti-corruption committee, said in a statement that though he is open to dialogue with foreign companies, the decision is final. “Today, with Apple, the situation is closed. We have received everything we wanted.”
The news comes on the back of another controversial change Apple made this month, and that time Apple was lambasted for appeasing China. The Taiwan flag emoji was taken down for users with their location settings either in Hong Kong or Macau. That rankled pro-Hong Kong activists currently protesting in streets.
Prior to that, Apple had also taken down a Hong Kong protest app from the App Store. Chief Executive Tim Cook defended the action, stating that the app violated Apple’s safety policies. Apple has yet to make a statement about the Crimea decision.
Photo: Håkan Dahlström/Flickr
A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:
Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.
- 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
- 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.
Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.
