Report: Apple Blocking Apple News in China

You can only officially download the Apple News app if you're in the United States right now. Though the app is also being tested elsewhere—Britain and Australia—it's predominantly U.S.-only at the moment.

That's not to say that you can't access Apple News if you're from the United States and you're traveling abroad. Well. Sort-of. According to a report from The New York Times, Apple has allegedly turned off Apple News for anyone in China. You can open up the app without any issue if you happen to have it, but Apple News will time out before a single headline arrives on your iOS device: "Can't refresh right now. News isn't supported in your current region," reads the resulting error message.

As for why, it's thought that the move is basically Apple's way to avoid any kind of self-censorship that the Chinese government would otherwise insist on. It's unclear whether Apple will eventually go down that path—either by using actual people to censor the feeds that Apple News pulls in, or by deploying some kind of digital helper that prohibits articles with certain words (or subjects) from being displayed.

A number of those commenting on Reddit about Apple's treatment seemed to be mixed in their opinions:

"What make me uncomfortable is them enforcing rules of other countries on my device which I didn't buy in that country even when I've turned off location services. It bothers me not because Apple does it, but because they have no option but to do it and it is only going to get worse," one commenter wrote.

Others were decidedly unhappy with Apple's move.

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"They're censoring news content that I downloaded and stored on my device purchased in the USA, before I even enter China just because my phone happens to connect to a Chinese signal floating over the border. On device censorship is much different than having your server blocked by the Great Firewall or not enabling a feature for customers with certain country iTunes account. That Apple has little choice doesn't make it any less creepy or outrageous," another wrote.

According to 9to5Mac and The New York Times, Apple isn't commenting on the issue. Given that China is a huge market for Apple—the second-highest source of revenue behind the United States itself—we suspect that this relative inconvenience for those in the country is going to continue, even though Apple itself would probably prefer to not have to self-censor anything in any way.