News app Quartz removed from Chinese App Store amidst Hong Kong protests
Amber Neely
Apple has removed Quartz from the Chinese App Store at the behest of the Chinese government, shortly after reinstating the previously removed protest app HKMap Live.
This marks the second time this month that Apple has removed an app that was related to the 2019 Hong Kong protests. HKMap Live, a protest map app, had been removed from the Chinese App Store over legality issues, but was later reinstated.
An editor at Quartz, John Keefe, has went public with the fact that Apple has now removed the news-based from the Chinese App Store. Quartz's extensive coverage of the Hong Kong protests and large non-U.S. audience were likely deciding factors.
Apple just took the Quartz app out of the Chinese app store at the request of China, and https://t.co/M7MXa7n7AG is now blocked from mainland China. Our excellent @qz coverage of ongoing Hong Kong protests may be the reason: https://t.co/FI4pcyzARz
— John Keefe (@jkeefe) October 9, 2019
Founded in 2012, Quartz says it features "global news and insights for a new generation of business leader," and that it's built "for users first." Over 60 percent of Quartz's readers access the site via mobile apps, and nearly 40 percent of its readers hail from outside of America.
Apple has not publicly addressed the issue at this time.
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