Roger Fingas
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has issued a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, calling on the pair to pull an app used to track the movements of Saudi women.
"It is hardly news that the Saudi monarchy seeks to restrict and repress Saudi women, but American companies should not enable or facilitate the Saudi government's patriarchy," Sen. Wyden wrote in part of the letter. "By permitting the app in your respective stores, your companies are making it easier for Saudi men to control their family members from the convenience of their smartphones and restrict their movement. This flies in the face of the type of society you both claim to support and defend."
The app, Absher, is operated by the Saudi government and has innocuous purposes like paying parking fines, but can also be used to monitor and limit the travel activity of wives and daughters under a man's guardianship, even canceling those permissions entirely. Although Saudi Arabia has loosened some of its old policies toward women — for instance by letting them drive — the country remains very patriarchal and governed under Wahhabism, a strict fundamentalist sect of Islam.
New: US Senator @RonWyden writes to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google boss Sundar Pichai calling on them to "immediately remove" the "abhorrent" Absher app. pic.twitter.com/sUH4tmCsfq
— Jake Kanter (@Jake_Kanter) February 12, 2019
Groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have expressed concern about Apple and Google's continued hosting of the app. Human Rights Watch in particular has suggested that the companies could simply ask Saudi Arabia to remove guardianship options and resubmit.
Apple has yet to publicly comment on the matter, but the company is often an outspoken proponent of human rights, including those concerning gender and race. It has repeatedly shut down attempts to set up a human rights committee, however, and has been accused of maintaining double standards, turning a blind eye to abuses in the Middle East and China in order to preserve its business interests.
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26 Comments
Global tech companies getting caught between the rock and a hard place of global politics. I wonder if Senator Wyden is willing to compensate Google and Apple for their loss of business should they be banned in Saudi Arabia because of his demands. What about Chinese and Russian demands for customer data to be stored in-country? Do you really think Huawei and Samsung would have any misgivings taking over the Saudi Arabian smartphone market because Apple is forced out?
Lots of luck there.
So not tolerant of other people’s cultures and beliefs then. If the App was available on the US stores then sure but to pull from local App Stores is a disgrace.
Still, I suppose inflicting our beliefs on others with app censorship is better than cruise missiles, what did our votes endorse and our tax dollars pay for?