How Complicit are Apple in China’s Crackdown on Freedom?

Tibetan, Uyghur, Hongkongers rights activists and digital tech experts discuss Apple’s compliance with China’s oppressive censorship laws and to direct demands by Beijing on the company has serious consequences for human rights.

Apple has blocked over 1000 VPNs from its App Store, delisted HKmap.live and banned the use of ‘sensitive’ terms – such as Tibet, Tiananmen and the Dalai Lama – that are blacklisted by the Chinese government from device engravings in its Apple stores in China. Far from promoting the web as a tool for communication, Apple is facilitating it being used as a tool for incarceration.

PANEL 1: An online briefing and discussion Rights Activists and Digital Tech Experts

Moderator: John Jones (Free Tibet)

Dechen Pemba (Tibetan activist & blogger)
Zumretay Arkin (World Uyghur Congress)
Andy Li, Stand with Hong Kong
Karen Reilly (GreatFire.org)
Sondhya Gupta (SumOfUs)
Lobsang Gyatso (Tibet Action Institute)

PANEL 2: An online briefing and discussion Rights Activists and Digital Tech Experts

Moderator: John Jones, Free Tibet

Pema Doma, Students for a Free Tibet
Shahrezad Ghayrat, Campaign for Uyghurs
Karen Reilly, Greatfire
James Tager, PEN America
Reem Suleiman, SumOfUS
Nathan Freitas, Tibet Action Institute and Guardian Project