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iPhone apps about Dalai Lama blocked in China

Reporters Without Borders urges the US consumer electronics company Apple to explain the alleged censorship of the iPhone applications which, according to IDG News Service, it has implemented in its App Store in China. IDG publishes such specialist magazines as Macworld, PC World and Computerworld.

"China's iPhone users have a right to know what they cannot access," Reporters Without Borders said. "For the sake of transparency, Apple should release a complete list of the censored apps - if any are being censored - and the selection criteria used. If Apple has agreed to withdraw some of the App Store products under pressure from the authorities, it will have joined the club of companies that are accomplices to the censorship of news and information in China."

The press freedom organisation continued: "This would be great disappointment coming from a company known for its creativity. Despite its "Think differently" motto, Apple seems to be unable to think differently from the Chinese authorities. The need to comply with local laws is not a plausible excuse. Censoring content about the Dalai Lama would be indefensible and would be a clear violation of international standards governing free expression."

According to IDG News Service, iPhone apps about the Dalai Lama and Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer, which are available in other countries, cannot be downloaded in China.

The blocked apps include Dalai Quotes, Dalai Lama Quotes, Dalai Lama Prayerwheel, Paging Dalai Lama, Nobel Laureates (which includes references to the Dalai Lama) and 10 Conditions, an app referring to Rebiya Kadeer.

US Internet companies Yahoo! and Google have been censoring the Chinese versions of their search engines for years. Yahoo! even provided the Chinese authorities with information that enabled them to identify journalist Shi Tao as the author of an email on a very sensitive political issue. As a result, he was given a 10-year jail sentence in 2005 and is still in prison.

Reporters Without Borders added: "The US Congress should lose no time in adopting the Global Online Freedom Act, a bill introduced by Republican Congressman Chris Smith that would prevent US Internet companies from being forced to collaborate with Internet censors in repressive countries."

Topics: Freedom of speech, Freedom of information, Freedom of expression,