Apple restricts iPhone file sharing in China

Apple has imposed restrictions on its iPhones sold in China for file sharing between devices, which can potentially be used to circumvent censorship and spread information deemed negative or critical of the Force.

China is already scrutinizing its Internet network and media. Every day, an army of censors deletes content that portrays state policy badly or creates unrest.

Social networks are subject to strict regulation, but many foreign sites cannot be accessed without circumvention software such as a VPN.

To evade censorship, using an iPhone can become a parade. On these phones, the AirDrop function makes it possible to share all kinds of content, including photos and videos, with another nearby Apple device.

Now a feature is limited in China: With the latest update from the American group, all iPhones sold in the country will automatically deactivate this option after 10 minutes for devices not in the user’s contact list.

To be sure, this significantly reduces the likelihood of unexpectedly receiving files from strangers and therefore the likelihood of potentially sensitive messages being exchanged without censorship.

After a rare protest in Beijing last month, the AirDrop feature was used especially in public places to broadcast slogans critical of the ruling Communist Party.

Ahead of the Communist Party Congress, banners hostile to President Xi Jinping were briefly hung on a bridge in the capital. This gesture of defiance seemed surprising in a city then armed with security forces and countless surveillance cameras.

The update is intended to limit junk file sharing and Apple told AFP it plans to roll it out worldwide next year.

Brand products sold outside of China are currently affected by these restrictions on the latest update to the iOS 16.1.1 mobile operating system.

Some internet users took to the Weibo social network on Thursday to welcome a positive move aimed at “significantly reducing” “harassment” from strangers.

Others mocked the Apple chief. “Is Tim Cook a member of the Communist Party?” asked one of them sarcastically.

Brahma Chellani, a professor of geopolitics at several universities, accused Wall Street of being “China’s long-standing powerful ally.”

“The latest example of a US company trying to appease China: Apple limited AirDrop in China only after Chinese protesters used it to circumvent online censorship and distribute posters against Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party,” he tweeted on Thursday.

Apple products, from the iPhone to the iPad, are extremely popular in China, one of the American group’s main markets outside the United States.

The Apple brand has always avoided taking positions on sensitive issues or disparaging Chinese power. Its CEO has been received several times by senior officials like the Head of State.

In 2019, Apple caught fire in the official press for authorizing an application in Hong Kong that allowed it to identify police officers on a map. A highly controversial service, however, the territory was rocked by massive pro-democracy demonstrations.

In 2017, the American giant was heavily criticized for removing VPNs from its application store in China at the request of authorities.

“Apple needs to understand the real risks of being so exposed to China in 2022,” said Isaac Stonefish, managing director of strategy risks.

“Whether or not they give the impression that they are likely to leave China will have a huge impact on the future of the business,” he added.