Apple wipes thousands of gambling apps after China backlash
Apple Inc.’s pulled thousands of gambling apps from its Chinese store after the nation’s state-run broadcaster accused the smartphone maker of dragging its feet on cleaning up banned content.
Government-controlled media including China Central Television attacked Apple this month for hosting illegal and fake lottery-ticket apps, which they said resulted in massive losses for hoodwinked users. On Sunday, CCTV reported that Apple pulled at least 4,000 apps tagged with the keyword “gambling” on Aug. 9 alone.
The U.S. company confirmed the action and said it was simply complying with regulations. But it underscores both Beijing’s resurgent crackdown on all forms of online content from games to social media and video services, as well as the difficulties facing foreign companies that do business in the world’s second-largest economy.
