Apple has pulled the Pocket Casts podcast app from the App Store in China at the government's request.
In a Twitter post, the company says it was ordered to censor podcast content streamed via the Pocket Casts app. However, refusing to do so has resulted in the Chinese government's request to remove the app.
Pocket Casts has been removed from the Chinese App store by Apple, at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China. We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship. As such we won't be censoring podcast content at their request.
We understand this means that it's unlikely that our iOS App will be available in China, but feel it's a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special.
It appears this is another example of Apple saying one thing in America and doing another in China.
Outside China, you can download Pocket Casts from the App Store for free.
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In a Twitter post, the company says it was ordered to censor podcast content streamed via the Pocket Casts app. However, refusing to do so has resulted in the Chinese government's request to remove the app.
Pocket Casts has been removed from the Chinese App store by Apple, at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China. We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship. As such we won't be censoring podcast content at their request.
We understand this means that it's unlikely that our iOS App will be available in China, but feel it's a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special.
It appears this is another example of Apple saying one thing in America and doing another in China.
Outside China, you can download Pocket Casts from the App Store for free.
Download