Apple Squeezed; Russian Propaganda's Limits; No Cyber Pearl Harbor; Chinese Programmer's GitHub Earnings Confiscated; Russian Hackers Bribe Official

What We’re Reading, Hearing, and Watching -- October 5, 2023

China Squeezes Apple

Over the years, Apple has tried hard to comply with Chinese laws and regulations in order to keep its business running in China. In 2017, for example, after the Chinese Cybersecurity Law was implemented, Apple announced it was building a data center in Guizhou, China to offer iCloud services. The data center started operations in May 2021. In August 2020, Apple’s App Store in China removed over 30,000 apps, mostly game-related apps to comply with payment requirements for paid games and the enablement of in-app purchases. However, it seems all these efforts did not stop the Chinese government from further limiting Apple’s business in China. In early September, 2023 China banned its government officials from using iPhones at work, then planned to expand the ban to state-backed companies and agencies, according to Western media.

Then on September 27, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)  issued a list of the first batch of 26 application distr…