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Apple limited AirDrop in China after protesters shared posters criticizing president Xi Jinping.
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The update could help China’s government decrease the use of AirDrop among protesters.
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Apple said it plans to expand the update to AirDrop users globally next year.
Apple put a 10-minute time cap on AirDrop for users in China weeks after the feature was used to share posters opposing president Xi Jinping and the Chinese government.
AirDrop allows Apple device users to quickly share images, files, documents, and videos with each other. Before the update, AirDrop users could choose to receive files from anyone with the option of sharing them only with contacts for an unlimited amount of time.
But now, users in China only have 10 minutes to share files with non-contacts, meaning they’re limited in their ability to use the feature to immediately share info among strangers.
Apple says that it plans to roll out the update to users around the world to lower the unsolicited spread of files, according to Bloomberg. Apple did not respond to Insider’s request for comment ahead of publication.
The change comes weeks after people in China used AirDrop to share digital posters opposing Xi Jinping during anti-government protests which follow a string of government-led actions to bolster strict online censorship in China, according to Bloomberg.
AirDrop has been used by protesters to spread information in China in a discrete way, Vice previously reported, as protests are illegal in the country.
One notable use of AirDrop took place in the mid-October when a Shanghai resident riding the metro received an AirDrop notification to open an image from “Xi Jinping’s iPhone.” The poster, written in Chinese, said “Oppose dictatorship, oppose totalitarianism, oppose autocracy,” Vice reported.
That isn’t the first time protesters used AirDrop to circumvent China’s Great Firewall. In 2019, Hong Kong protesters used AirDrop to inform mainland Chinese visitors in the city about the country’s controversial extradition bill, Quartz reported.
While Apple didn’t say why the change only applies to Chinese users for now, the country represents a major market for the iPhone-maker. The bulk of iPhone device manufacturing takes place in China.
Apple has also made moves to strengthen its ties with China in recent years. In 2016, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook quietly made a $275 million deal with China to ease a regulatory crackdown that hurt Apple’s business in the country, The Information reported. In that deal, Apple reportedly agreed to work with Chinese suppliers to build more parts for Apple devices and invest “many billions of dollars more” into China’s manufacturing.
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