Last month state-run Chinese media publicly accused Apple of not doing enough to filter illegal content, such as allowing gambling apps on the App Store and also not doing enough to prevent spam messages from being sent to users. Given how important the Chinese market is, it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that Apple has worked quickly to deal with the issue.In a report from CCTV (via AppleInsider), it appears that Apple has removed as many as 4,000 apps from the App Store that have been marked with the “gambling” keyword. Apparently these apps were being distributed under the guise of a lottery app, in which users claim to have lost a ton of money as a result.
In a statement released by Apple, “Gambling apps are illegal and not allowed on the App Store in China. We have already removed many apps and developers for trying to distribute illegal gambling apps on our App Store, and we are vigilant in our efforts to find these and stop them from being on the App Store.”
There is also the issue of spam in which last we heard, Apple was working with Chinese carriers to deal with it, a problem that Apple is also facing in India. While it is understandable that Apple would need to comply with the local laws, there are politicians in the US who question whether or not Apple should be giving in to China’s demands.