More transparency in the case of app evictions at the behest of the state: Apple apparently wants to give more details about apps in the future that the group has removed from its App Store after state requests. Apple has promised a group of activist investors a corresponding change to its semi-annual transparency report, the Financial Times reports.
Apple tried to block the shareholder motions
Investors have been trying to build up pressure for a long time to get Apple to better document government intervention in apps. The company tried to block a corresponding shareholder application in 2021 – as well as other critical applications relating to allegations of forced labor and censorship. Apple had argued that the required things were already being fulfilled “in substantial parts”, but the US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected the attempt to block.
At the company’s last shareholder meeting in spring 2022, almost a third of shareholders voted in favor of greater transparency, notes the business newspaper. The activist shareholders were particularly bothered by the removal of Bible and Koran apps from the Chinese App Store.
More information on app bans
In the future, Apple wants to list the legal basis for the required app removal for each government individually and also name the app category. However, a detailed explanation of the ejection of individual apps is not to be expected. Only since 2018 – in the tenth year of the App Store – has the company listed the number of apps removed at the behest of the state in its transparency report, distinguishing between violations of local laws and violations of Apple’s own platform and developer specifications.
The company’s last available transparency report from the first half of 2021 states that a total of a good 120 apps were removed at the request of the state. The expulsion demands from China were mainly about apps with “illegal content”. Further details are not noted.
(lbe)
