#Apple bans political engravings in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Apple has banned customers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan from engraving political phrases on its devices — including references to voting rights, freedom of the press, political dissidents and Chinese history, according to a report from a human rights organization. 

The California-based tech giant’s Chinese customers looking to engrave gadgets like iPads, AirPods and Airtags are banned from using phrases like “human rights” and “Dalai,” a reference to the Dalai Lama. Apple also censors the number 8964, which commemorates the Tiananmen Square massacre.

In both Hong Kong and mainland China, Apple bans the phrases “freedom of the press” and “double universal suffrage” — demands made by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in recent years. In both areas, the Tim Cook-helmed company also censors names of specific political dissidents including the artists Ai Weiwei and Liu Xiaobo. 

And in Taiwan, Apple bans users from engraving several phrases about Chinese politics, including references to President Xi Jinping, Chinese Communist Party founder Mao Zedong and the far-right religious movement Falun Gong. 

While Apple’s strictest censorship takes place in China, the company extends such engraving restrictions to Hong Kong and Taiwan despite little legal reason to do so, according to the report published Thursday by researchers from the University of Toronto. 

“Apple’s mainland China political censorship bleeds into both Hong Kong and Taiwan,” the researchers said. “Much of this censorship exceeds Apple’s legal obligations in Hong Kong, and we are aware of no legal justification for the political censorship of content in Taiwan.” 

Likewise, the company’s bans on the names of specific artists “appear to far exceed Apple’s censorship obligations under Hong Kong’s national security law,” according to the report, which was written by Jeffrey Knockel and Lotus Ruan of the university’s CitizenLab. 

Apple — which has taken flak in the past for allegedly helping Hong Kong police by banning an app used to organize protests — did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the report. 

Apple does not publicly disclose what phrases it bars customers from engraving, but the researchers identified a total of 458 banned political phrases in mainland China, 174 in Hong Kong and 29 in Taiwan. 

In both Asia and North America, Apple also bans non-political terms like “BOOB” and “DAMN,” as well as racial slurs. 

No political terms are banned in North America, according to the researchers. 

While Apple was founded in the US, China has become increasingly crucial to its business as the company manufactures the vast majority of its products there. 

The “Greater China” region — which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan — was also responsible for about 20 percent of Apple’s global revenue during the second quarter of 2021, or about $18 billion, according to data complied by Statista.