Presently, it appears, you will still be able to download a VPN app for your iOS device if you happen to be able to access another country’s iOS App Store: In short, this isn’t really Apple’s fault – it’s China’s.įortunately, ExpressVPN has noted that the removal of the VPN apps does not necessarily mean that it’s now impossible to download a VPN onto your iPhone or iPad if you are located in China. But consider this – what else could they do? It’s well within Chinese power to revoke Apple’s rights to sell products into the country entirely – and the technology company has a long-standing regulation that all apps must conform to the local laws of territories into which they are being sold. Now, there may be some who will be upset that Apple has caved in to China’s demands, and removed VPNs from its app store. Things perhaps become even more critical if you are business operating in China, which has security standards which require the usage of VPNs to connect to offices remotely, and reduce the chances of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands. Criminal hackers can also take advantage of people not using VPNs to spy upon those using insecure Wi-Fi hotspots, and launch man-in-the-middle attacks. Of course, this is one of the concerns – that authoritarian regimes might use the lack of availability of VPN technology to more easily monitor and censor what people are accessing on the internet, and snoop upon private communications.īut they’re not the only group which can exploit weak online security.
where government control access to internet.”Ĭertainly VPN software has been unpopular with the Chinese regime, which views their usage as a tool by which citizens might attempt to skirt around the infamous “Great firewall of China”, used to censor websites and content deemed inappropriate. Other VPN apps, such as Star VPN, also revealed that it had been similarly thrown out of the Chinese iOS App Store, and warned that the move set a “very dangerous precedent which can lead to same moves in countries like UAE etc. In the email, Apple explained that the ExpressVPN app was being removed from the China App Store “because it contains content that is illegal in China.”Īnd it doesn’t seem that ExpressVPN was being specifically targeted. In a blog post, ExpressVPN describes how it received a notification from Apple that its iOS app was being removed from the China App Store. Ok, so hopefully we’re all up to speed and understand the importance of running a VPN.īut depending on where you are in the world, things may not be so easy.įor instance, this weekend it has come to light that Apple has bowed to pressure from the regime in Beijing, and removed some VPN apps from the Chinese version of its iOS App Store.
Regular readers of We Live Security will know that we have long been proponents of internet users protecting their privacy by installing a VPN on their computers, tablets, and smartphones.ĭon’t know what a VPN is? Watch this video from ESET. I hope that the relevant administrative departments can address this problem quickly.Apple has bowed to pressure from the regime in Beijing, and removed some VPN apps from the Chinese version of its iOS App Store. "Looking at the innocent children, I feel very distressed!" "Bullshit" said, "Each of these videos have received up to hundreds of thousands of hits, and a lot of Internet users left comments on the pages to accuse the video shooters who show no respect to the privacy of children they also expressed indignation for the intentional distribution of child porn.
In these videos, some young girls wear makeup and some are arranged in different scenarios, causing some netizens suspect that certain people may have deliberately produced and spread these videos. Youku editors collected nearly 100 such videos and publicly spread them. Uploaded to sections named "Baby Show" or "Maternal and Child Channel”, as many as 68 videos feature naked young girls, close-up of their sensitive parts moreover, provocative words like “young girls taking bath" and "nude" are used as titles to attract viewers. The netizen whose name is “Bullshit”, uploaded a large number of video screenshots and website screenshots of Youku featuring naked children.Īccording to “Bullshit”, the ID that uploaded the videos on Youku is suspected of spreading pornographic contents.
(stock code YOKU), known as the first brand of Chinese online video industry, has been criticized by some Chinese netizens for distributing child porn videos.Īccording to a report from People’s Daily Online, a netizen uploaded a large number of images on the Chinapic online community of People’s Daily Online Figure community today to question Youku whether it has the moral bottom line. (Youku screenshots)Įdited and translated by Yan Meng, People's Daily Online Netizens criticize Youku for suspected distribution of child porn videos.