Tag: Apple

Apple Cooperates with Chinese Censorship Demands, Removes Popular Messaging Apps from Store

Connecticut Star Staff
App Store

Tech behemoth Apple complied with an order from the Chinese government to remove popular messaging apps from the company’s app store in the country, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Apple removed messaging platforms WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, as well as social media app Threads, from its Chinese App Store in compliance with an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, which cited national security concerns as the reason for the restrictions, according to the WSJ. China’s order follows a heated debate among U.S. lawmakers over whether to place restrictions on the Chinese Communist Party-linked app TikTok, with some parties calling for the app to either be sold to a non-Chinese entity or be banned in the U.S.

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SEC Rules Tech Company Can’t Block Free Speech Resolution

Connecticut Star Staff
Apple Store

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declined on Tuesday Apple’s request to block votes for a “free speech” shareholder resolution.

The resolution, submitted by the American Family Association (AFA), would have Apple investigate how it curates content and issue a report to address concerns that company policies enable restricting speech based on viewpoint. The SEC shot down Apple’s bid to exclude the resolution from the ballot at its upcoming 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, ensuring a vote on the resolution in the spring, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

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Commentary: A Way to Protect Kids Online That Passes Constitutional Muster

Connecticut Star Staff

A bipartisan group of senators is about to take Big Tech CEOs to task on Jan. 31, 2024, by having them publicly address their failures to protect kids online. And the CEOs need to! The harms social media poses to children are well documented and, at this point, indisputable—even by the companies themselves.

YouTube admits that it hosts harmful content for children and even calls for legislation to address the problems it helps create. YouTube’s CEO indicated as much when he published his “principled approach for children and teenagers.”

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Texas AG Launches Fraud Investigation into Media Matters

Connecticut Star Staff

On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Texas) announced that the state would be launching a fraud probe into the far-left publication Media Matters.

As reported by the Daily Caller, the probe comes after Media Matters released a report on Thursday accusing the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, of putting anti-Semitic content next to advertisements. Although subsequent studies have proven this to be mostly false, multiple major corporations, including Apple, Disney, and IBM, have announced their plans to boycott advertising on the site.

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Tech Giant Pays Millions to Settle Claims It Discriminated Against American Citizens

Connecticut Star Staff

Apple will pay $25 million to settle claims that it unlawfully discriminated against U.S. citizens and some non-U.S. citizens in its hiring process, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday.

The DOJ alleged that Apple breached the Immigration and Nationality act (INA) in its hiring efforts for roles covered by the permanent labor certification program (PERM), according to the announcement. PERM enables employers to “sponsor” employees for “lawful permanent resident status” in the U.S. and bars employers from engaging in unlawful hiring discrimination due to citizenship or immigration status.

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China Ramps Up Crackdown on American Tech

Connecticut Star Staff

Over the past few months, China has escalated its efforts to exert control over American technology companies by implementing new requirements, bans and restrictions.

The Chinese government is clamping down on American technology companies by throttling their already limited access to the country’s massive economy, according to new requirements, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The country has also challenged American technology dominance by developing rivals to the latest smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as announcing export limits to key metals in July.

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Senator Calls for Apple, Alphabet to Boot TikTok from App Stores

The Center Square

A U.S. Senator has called on the nation’s top tech companies to break up with the popular short-form video service TikTok.

U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, asked Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to remove TikTok from the company app stores immediately over national security concerns.

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Commentary: The Legacy Media Is Ossified by Their Corruption and Blinded by Their Progressive Agenda

Admin
CNN logo outside of Atlanta, Ga., headquarters

by Victor Davis Hanson   The current “media” – loosely defined as the old major newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, the network news channels, MSNBC and CNN, PBS and NPR, the online news aggregators like Google, Apple, and Yahoo, and the social media giants like the old Twitter and…

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Commentary: Trump’s Truth Social Platform Could Help Propel GOP to Majorities in the 2022 Midterms and Beyond

Admin

No risk, no reward.

That’s the lesson official Washington, D.C. should now be learning from former President Donald Trump’s foray into running a social media company, TruthSocial.com, which is currently running a successful public beta that Apple customers can download in the App Store.

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Apple Employees Say They Don’t Want to Return to a ‘Whiter,’ ‘Male-Dominated’ Office

Peter D'Abrosca

As computer giant Apple considers bringing employees back to work in person while the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, some of those employees are worried that returning to work in person will make the company less diverse. 

“Apple will likely always find people willing to work here, but our current policies requiring everyone to relocate to the office their team happens to be based in, and being in the office at least 3 fixed days of the week, will change the makeup of our workforce,” said an open letter written by employees. “It will make Apple younger, whiter, more male-dominated, more neuro-normative, more able-bodied, in short, it will lead to privileges deciding who can work for Apple, not who’d be the best fit.”

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Big Tech Giant That Lobbied Against Slave Labor Ban Commits to a ‘Racial Equity’ Audit

Admin

Apple confirmed Wednesday that it will conduct a racial equity audit of its policies, The Washington Post reported, after the tech giant lobbied against legislation intended to combat the use of forced labor in the supply chains.

Apple investors initially approved a shareholder proposal mandating the company undertake a “racial equity focused” audit of its policies on March 4, The Washington Post reported. Apple initially opposed the proposal but said Wednesday it will accept the audit.

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Corporations Go Out of Their Way to Help Employees Get Abortions

Admin

Corporations, including Citigroup, Apple and Match, are helping their employees undergo abortions in light of new, state-level restrictions.

Citigroup announced a policy of covering travel costs for U.S.-based employees seeking abortions “in response to changes in reproductive healthcare laws in certain states” in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The policy will cover airfare and lodging, according to Bloomberg.

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Apple Stops Selling All Products in Russia, Drops State-Backed Media Apps

Admin

Apple announced Tuesday it would pause the sale of all products in Russia, citing the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence,” Apple said in a statement. “We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis, and doing all we can to support our teams in the region.”

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Conservative Tech Group Launches Nationwide Campaign to Pass Senate Anti-Big Tech Bill

Admin

The Internet Accountability Project (IAP), a conservative tech group, launched a nationwide ad campaign Wednesday urging the passage of a bill targeting Apple and Google.

The ads, set to launch on Newsmax, are intended to support Republican senators who backed antitrust legislation designed to curb the anticompetitive practices of major tech companies, according to a review of the ad campaign by Daily Caller News Foundation. The ads thank the senators for backing the Open App Markets Act, which if passed would prevent app stores like Google Play and Apple’s App Store from forcing developers to use the tech giants’ in-app payment systems as a condition of distribution.

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Google Accuses Microsoft of ‘Carving Out’ Exception in Anti-Big Tech Bill

Connecticut Star Staff

Google’s Chief Legal Officer and President of Global Affairs Kent Walker accused Microsoft on Friday of “carving out” an exception to a bill targeting app stores operated by Google and Apple.

The Open App Markets Act, introduced by Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in a near-unanimous vote Thursday. Microsoft president Brad Smith applauded the passage of the bill in tweet shortly after, writing that the legislation “would promote competition, and ensure fairness and innovation in the app economy.”

Walker responded to Smith’s tweet accusing the software company of “carving out” an exception in the legislation favoring Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console and service.

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Senate Committee Advances Minnesota Sen. Klobuchar’s Legislation to ‘Rein in Big Tech’

Admin

Sen. Amy Klobuchar appeared on Fox News’ Special Report Thursday night, primarily to promote an antitrust bill aimed at reforming laws that govern Big Tech and increasing competition.

A bipartisan U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted 16-6 Thursday to advance the legislation — The American Innovation and Choice Online Act — as bipartisan lawmakers seek to curtail the power and influence of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and others.

In short, the bill would prevent companies from “unfairly preferencing their own products and services” on their platforms while prohibiting “specific forms of conduct that are harmful to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and consumers.”

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Amazon and Facebook Spent More Money Than Ever Lobbying in 2021

Admin

Amazon and Facebook parent company Meta spent more money in 2021 lobbying lawmakers and officials than any year before, according to lobbying disclosure filings.

Amazon spent $20.3 million on lobbying while Meta spent $20.1 million in 2021, according to a review of lobbying disclosure filings by MarketWatch. The figures are record totals for both tech companies, who spent $18.9 million and $19.7 million on lobbying in 2020, respectively.

Google’s lobbying spend for 2021 clocked in at $11.5 million, while Microsoft spent $10.3 million and Apple spent $6.5 million, according to MarketWatch’s review.

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