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A comment on Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps by Ahmadiyya Muslims. Parent comment

Re:Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps... by AlexandrB on Friday February 05, 2021 @01:56PM (#26039862)
The problem lies with Pakistan and Apple and Google. If the apps in question could be installed without an App Store blocking them would be much harder. The entity creating the apps does not seem to have a commercial presence in Pakistan and the Pakistani government would have no jurisdiction over their actions. Having large commercial intermediaries with money on the line is really convenient when you want to get something censored.

From the article:

> The PTA also ordered shut a US-based Ahmadi site, TrueIslam.com, threatening its administrators with criminal charges that carry a $3 million fine. The decision may not be enforceable, since the people who run the site, including Zafar, do not live in Pakistan.

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Re:Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps... by wobbly_bush on Friday February 05, 2021 @02:50PM (#26040421)
> If the apps in question could be installed without an App Store..

Android already allows side loading apps which don't have to come from an app store.

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Re:Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps... by jmull on Friday February 05, 2021 @02:22PM (#26040150)
You're suggesting that if Apple and Google create an app-loading mechanism that makes it difficult for them to block an app, that Pakistan will simply let them off the hook.

I don't think so. Why wouldn't Pakistan simply require them to block it anyway?

> ...since the people who run the site, including Zafar, do not live in Pakistan

Not relevant. In this case, Apple and Google do business in Pakistan. You can argue they need to leave the market. If so, let's hear it. (Personally, I don't think that would have an impact or be the right way to go even if it did.)

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Re:Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps... by Andrew_nenakhov on Friday February 05, 2021 @02:45PM (#26040374)
I'm suggesting that Apple and Google should not be in position to decide what users run on their apps. On Android, it is rather close to it (sans push notifications, which are not available without Google Play services, and without which background apps running is somewhat problematic), but Apple is a completely opposite.
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Re:Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps... by jmull on Friday February 05, 2021 @03:19PM (#26040694)
Not sure you're understanding what I'm saying.

The Pakistani government can require that Apple and Google block certain apps and require that they maintain their ability to do so.

I don't dispute that Apple and Google do gatekeeping. They do. We can discuss the pros and cons of it. But that is simply not issue here.

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Re:Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps... by stale2002 on Friday February 05, 2021 @03:55PM (#26041065)
> The Pakistani government can require that Apple and Google block certain apps and require that they maintain their ability to do so.

In general, we do not see governments doing this, no.

For example, I am sure that some people in Pakistan own intel/windows computers.

But Pakistan is not making laws that require every single intel/windows computer to block certain content, at the hardware level of the PC.

That is something that seems pretty difficult to enforce on all PCs.

If phones worked more like PCs, then it is likely that they would enjoy similar benefits.

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Re:Google, Apple cave to Pakistan pressure to take down apps... by jpttsn on Friday February 05, 2021 @06:35PM (#26042556)
It would be fun to watch someone calmly and rationally explain this impossibility to the legislator. Perhaps with slides about Turing’s universal machine and the x86 architecture. And while you have their ear, maybe convince them that end to end encryption can’t be safely backdoored, and that cellphone radios won’t crash planes. Legislators have so much respect and patience for technical arguments that limit their power.
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