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Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by int_19h on Monday November 28, 2022 @06:28PM (#33781386)
That would be because IRA remains the sole government of Afghanistan recognized by relevant agencies such as UN. Which companies generally defer to when they came, because it cuts down on a lot of individual political decisions they'd have to make otherwise.

Yandex is an interesting showcase of how bad this can get - they literally dropped country borders from their maps last year "for better user experience". And I don't mean just lines that you normally see while browsing the map, but even when you ask for it deliberately. For example, if you look up a city, you get its territory highlighted on the map - but that's not the case for countries, it just puts a marker "somewhere in the middle".

They also removed administrative regional boundaries without announcing that change - probably because looking up regions at the border would have to include a part of said border into the displayed boundary, making it discoverable.

Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by vjulian on Monday November 28, 2022 @06:41PM (#33781525)
Perhaps Yandex maps could be perceived as representing an ideal future devoid of essentially arbitrary political boundaries and silly notions of citizenship.
Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by account42 on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @06:41AM (#33786312)
No matter how much you want such an utopia where everyone gets along, that is not the reality we are living in. Instead, borders are real and which country a particular location in matters in many contexts that involve looking at a map.
Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by whimsicalism on Monday November 28, 2022 @06:39PM (#33781508)
> That would be because IRA remains the sole government of Afghanistan recognized by relevant agencies such as UN. Which companies generally defer to when they came, because it cuts down on a lot of individual political decisions they'd have to make otherwise.

How does that standard apply to Taiwan?

Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by Rebelgecko on Monday November 28, 2022 @07:04PM (#33781737)
In mainland China they don't support the Taiwanese flag emoji, presumably because that's the only country that would care or want to censor it.
Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by frosted-flakes on Monday November 28, 2022 @07:02PM (#33781722)
Google Maps also does this when the border is under contention. Selecting a country with a contested border like Ukraine or Russia will only highlight the country name, but selecting a country with uncontested borders like Poland or Germany will draw a red outline around the country.
Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by marcosdumay on Monday November 28, 2022 @07:17PM (#33781851)
Mapmakers have been doing this one for centuries. Contested borders often do not appear.
Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by colejohnson66 on Monday November 28, 2022 @08:35PM (#33782545)
I heard Google also alters the drawn borders based on your IP (if you're in one with a contested border)
Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by shagie on Monday November 28, 2022 @09:19PM (#33782861)
Re:Apple's reaction to protests: AirDrop is now limited to 1... by Someone on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @02:36AM (#33784689)
Nitpick: technically, the border between Germany and the Netherlands semi-contested. The countries agreed to disagree about its exact location. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany–Netherlands_border#D...:

“The maritime border is disputed in a part of the Ems estuary outside the Dollart bay, where Germany has the view that the state border runs on the left bank of the Ems, while the Netherlands regards the Thalweg as its border.

[…]

In 2014 the two nations' foreign ministers met to put an end to the dispute. It was decided that the border should remain ambiguous and responsibility for the region in question shared”

More info (in German) at https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsch-Niederländische_Grenzf....