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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat can we, as consumers, do to convince Apple and Google to reinstate Navalny's Russian voting app
Tbh, I have no hope of convincing Google to do anything. I've been saying for literally decades that I consider Google to be a force for evil.
Apple, on the other hand, I have a faint amount of hope for. So what can we, as consumers, do? Any suggestions?
I definitely will never buy another iPhone again if Apple doesn't reinstate the app; but since I don't buy phones that often, this action really won't impact them at all. I'll be ceasing purchasing their products for my own sense of morality, nothing more.
I literally teared up when I listened to Rachel talking about this tonight. I am so, so fucking tired of corporate control of people's lives!
elleng
(130,147 posts)wackadoo wabbit
(1,160 posts)I know that you're right though.
BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)pissed off.
Nothing can or will be done at this time since the elections are tomorrow. Fuck the tech monopolies!!!!!!
However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't boycott these companies or call and write to our reps to break them up like they did with Ma Bell. We must not allow the tech companies to dominate and legislate. Are Katie Porter and Elizabeth Warren working on this?
wackadoo wabbit
(1,160 posts)If there were an outpouring of complaints or [something, I don't know what], could the app be reinstated for at least the third day?
I absolutely, completely agree with you about breaking up the tech companies! I'll be calling Warren and Porter early next week to urge them to look into this. Thanks for the suggestion! That's a great idea!
BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 18, 2021, 01:48 AM - Edit history (1)
in the time frame of the elections but we can start with a real effort on the voters' parts to make our voices heard and possibly prevent this from happening in the future. It is WAY past time to control these tech giants. They are NOT our friends.
wackadoo wabbit
(1,160 posts)I only wish more people could see it.
elleng
(130,147 posts)'Only a supervisory agency tasked with overseeing the mobile app infrastructure, which would include the similar system operated by Google, can protect the public and app developers from abuse by these dominant companies.
The problem is finding an adequate remedy under existing antitrust law. As commentators have observed, Epic Games was consistently vague about the remedy it wanted. But several remedies are possible.'
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/06/02/the-epic-apple-app-case-reveals-monopoly-power-and-the-need-for-new-regulatory-oversight/
BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)"But the remedies to this problem are beyond the resources of antitrust law. Congress needs to step in with a regulatory solution."
elleng
(130,147 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)elleng
(130,147 posts)especially in these times, since greed has taken over,
multigraincracker
(32,531 posts)Bust the Trust.
wackadoo wabbit
(1,160 posts)There's really nothing the courts can do to fix the problem.
That was an interesting read. Thanks so much for the link! It gave me context, which I always appreciate.
elleng
(130,147 posts)Suggestion that Senator Warren and Congresswoman Porter look into this is good; there surely are others who could help.
It's POSSIBLE this russia thing will light a few fires (BUT might be too difficult to handle.)
tirebiter
(2,520 posts)Got it used and I repair it myself. They could advertise their product on my experience but they have yet to get any of my money.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)the Navalny app is, or was, something to help out with the Russian election. It was apparently ordered, persuaded, or threatened to be removed by the current commissars and monopoly or corporate power had nothing to do with it. This was, in fact, a demonstration of the lack of corporate power in the face of total state power.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Rachel explaining more about that.
According to AP, the app was reportedly available for weeks while the Kremlin pressured the companies to remove it, which they finally did on election day itself. Google reportedly faced threats of criminal prosecution, though what I was reading didn't say who they'd go after, and police arrived Monday to enforce a court order.
AP also reported that long lines at the polls in various cities suggested forced voting. Putin can fudge the counts in private, but low turnout, and thus lack of enthusiasm for his consolidation of power, would be visible.
Steven Maurer
(455 posts)If they defied the Russian government on this, they would be shut out of the country entirely.
Russia is a dictatorship.
Don't worry though. The Streisand effect should make this backfire on Putin, just like COVID denialism already has.
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)...
Apple also reportedly disabled its new iCloud Private Relay feature today in Russia, which masks users' IP addresses and browsing activity to counter mass surveillance. The service is currently available in beta, but Apple never offered it in countries like China, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Belarus for "regulatory reasons." It had, however, launched it in Russia.
The action Russia took against the voting app is part of a larger trend. In April, iPhones and other iOS devices sold in Russia started coming with an extra step in the setup process that prompts users to install a list of apps from Russian developers. The apps aren't pre-installed, and users can choose not to download them, but Apple made the change as a concession to Russian law.
And it's not just Russia that's making increasingly restrictive demands. Along with its Great Firewall, the Chinese government has long exercised significant control over how international tech companies operate in the country, including a requirement that all foreign services run on servers that are both owned by Chinese cloud companies and located in China. India has also increasingly forced international tech companies, including Twitter and Facebook, to make privacy-eroding compromises. But something so baldly political as the takedown of a voting guide app is an alarming and dangerous new frontier.
https://www.wired.com/story/russia-apple-google-voting-app-navalny/
Basically, if you want to do business in country X, you obey country X's regulations.