Many shareholders want Apple to respond to removal of VPN apps in China

About 40.6 percent of shareholders have called on Apple to speak out against the removal of VPN apps from the Chinese App Store. In previous years, that call received much less support from shareholders.

The proposal calls on Apple to respond to the issue of whether the company “proclaims freedom of expression as a human right,” reports Reuters news agency. Experts tell the news agency that Apple will come under pressure to respond to the proposal, even if it is not adopted. If 40.6 percent of shareholders voted for it, it was not only individual shareholders who voted in favour, but also large parties. Previously, proposals like this received the support of less than 10 percent of shareholders.

This includes removing vpn apps from the Chinese App Store. As a result, Chinese users can no longer avoid censorship in the country. According to the proposer of the proposal, this goes against the human right to freedom of expression.

Apple’s relationship with China has been a topic of discussion before. For example, at the request of the Hong Kong government, the company removed the app HKMap.live, which people in Hong Kong could use to locate police to avoid riots. Apple also reportedly gave series makers for its streaming service instructions not to offend the Chinese government. Apple gets some of its revenue from sales in China, while also having many of its products assembled in the country.