(OPINION) Chinese internet users have lost one of their last avenues to foreign news after the Yahoo Finance app disappeared from Apple’s store, as the Communist Party intensifies its censorship of information from abroad.
The Yahoo app republishes news from foreign media organizations, including outlets whose websites are blocked in China, such as Bloomberg and Reuters, as well as stock market data. This allowed users to skirt official censorship bans, a feature that likely drew the ire of Chinese authorities.
Beijing’s crackdown on foreign content and influence in China has affected everything from private school curricula to karaoke bar songs. Chinese government censors have always tightly controlled news and information, blocking access to foreign media websites and social media networks, such as the BBC, New York Times, Facebook, Google, and Twitter.
“Recently Apple has been removing many apps at the demand of the Chinese authorities,” said Benjamin Ismail, project director at Apple Censorship, an organization that tracks which apps are available, and where.
“But complying with governments’ orders is different than complying with the law, especially in China, where the authorities often resort to extralegal means to muzzle the press, bloggers, activists or any dissenting voices.” It was not clear whether Yahoo or Apple had removed the app. Yahoo did not respond to a request for comment, while Apple did not comment. READ MORE