The pagan mentality that’s taking over corporate America is truly astonishing.  
Apple just released an ad in which they effectively call for worship of Mother Nature. This is just pure pagan-Gaia-worship nonsense. In the commercial, Apple CEO Tim Cook and what we are to assume is the rest of the Apple board are meeting with Mother Nature, who is a black woman. This Mother Nature shows up to express her unease at the lack of progress corporate America has made in protecting her: the environment. 
A board member asks, “Mother Nature. Mother Nature. Welcome to Apple. How was the weather getting in?” 
“The weather was however I wanted it to be,” Mother Nature replies. “Let’s cut to the chase: In 2020, you promised to bring Apple’s entire carbon footprint to zero by 2030. Henry David Thoreau over here (the camera pans to Cook) said we have a profound opportunity to build a more sustainable future for the planet we share.” 
“I think our 10:00 said the same thing,” someone apparently working as an assistant for Mother Nature interjects.
“They all do,” Mother Nature says loftily. “All right. This is my third corporate responsibility gig today, so who wants to disappoint me first?”
“Well, we’ve got some updates we are excited to share with you,” a board member says hesitantly.
“Materials status,” Mother Nature cuts her off. 
“Is there a materials person here?” the assistant asks.
A woman nervously steps forward: “Yes. We are in the process of eliminating all plastic from our packaging by the end—”
“Let me guess,” Mother Nature interrupts. “Fifty years from now, when someone else is left holding the bag?”
“By the end of next year, actually,” the nervous woman answers. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="2030 Status | Mother Nature | Apple" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HudZ1FT-TLQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
How stupid is this? There are a few things that are incredibly stupid about this. This entire commercial was apparently unveiled at the Apple product launch to demonstrate just how environmentally friendly they are.
First of all, it begins with Mother Nature arriving and they say, how’s the weather? And it gets really dark. Mother Nature says, “Whatever I want it to be.”
So here’s the question: If the environment is whatever she wants it to be, what are we worried about her for? If Mother Nature is all that powerful, then why is it we are not seeking to protect ourselves from her and not the other way around? This, by the way, was the story of virtually all of human history until the last five minutes: Mother Nature trying to kill people and people trying to figure out a way not to die. It’s very much the story of all of human survival and civilization. It’s still the story of all of human survival and civilization. Immediate contradiction. 
Then it turns into: How can we worship at the altar of Mother Nature? What if we recycle all of our plastic? Don’t even use plastic. What if we recycle all the aluminum in our phones? 
This is what we’re proving to you? What good people we are? What amazing, amazing people we are? Don’t worry about values. Don’t worry about whether what you’re doing is good or evil in terms of the product you produce, what kind of protections it has for children, or how content actually reaches people via the phones and computers you put up. Don’t worry about any of that. What you really ought to worry about is Mother Nature. 
This is paganism. Worshiping nature is a form of paganism because the reality is, nature doesn’t care about you. If you are making pagan sacrifices to the gods and you’re offering up not grain and meat but recycled aluminum, I’m not sure what the difference is.
My favorite part about all of this is this supposed Apple board meeting with Mother Nature. It’s super diverse. There’s a black lady, an Asian woman, an Indian woman. Except the actual Apple board is the whitest group of people in human history — a very white group of people. There is possibly one person on this entire list who is not white. They wouldn’t want to put that in the commercial because that would just be a bunch of white people meeting with a black lady and that wouldn’t look nearly as good or quite as diverse. 
It’s good when the mask comes off, when corporate America says people like Tim Cook have a chief goal and that is this: to worship Mother Nature and use their giant company to do so.
<div class="css-j7qwjs">
<div id="post-body-text">
<div class="e1nzmkc90 css-ls1ioq">
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Ben Shapiro Editorial Series 09

Apple Worships Mother Nature. Welcome To Pagan America.

Apple

Ben Shapiro

Opinion

Readers Pass

Tim Cook

Apple CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Cook</a> hid behind staffers Tuesday to avoid answering questions from a reporter who grilled him on Apple enabling the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese Communist Party&#8217;s</a> human rights abuses.
Cook hid from Fox News reporter Hillary Vaughn as he was leaving a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/apple-ceo-tim-cook-flies-meet-gop-lawmakers-standoff-elon-musks-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> with U.S. lawmakers in the nation&#8217;s capital.
&#8220;Do you support the Chinese people&#8217;s right to protest?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
&#8220;Do you have any reaction to the factory workers that were beaten and detained for protesting COVID lockdowns?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
&#8220;Do you regret restricting airdrop access that protesters used to evade surveillance from the Chinese government?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
&#8220;Do you think it&#8217;s problematic to do business with the Communist Chinese Party when they suppress human rights?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨WATCH: Apple CEO Tim Cook ignores our questions on China as zero-COVID lockdown protests rage in the country. Full video 👇🏻 <a href="https://t.co/m0NpgRN6U4">pic.twitter.com/m0NpgRN6U4</a>
&mdash; Hillary Vaughn (@hillary__vaughn) <a href="https://twitter.com/hillary__vaughn/status/1598439834703613962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Protests <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/protests-against-covid-lockdowns-erupt-across-china-some-turn-violent" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intensified</a> over the weekend in major cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan. According to media reports, a demonstration in Shanghai eventually devolved into chaos, with police clashing with protesters and deploying pepper spray. The protests emerged as a response to the “zero COVID” policies imposed by the Chinese Communist Party government since the beginning of the pandemic.
The protests reportedly began on Thursday after ten people were killed in a fire at a residential high-rise building in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Videos of the incident posted on social media spawned accusations that lockdowns contributed to the deaths, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/26/world/asia/china-protests-covid.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> and Reuters reported. Residents of the city have been locked down and prevented from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days at a time, Reuters added.
According to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-health-china-fires-covid-4ffc00e5f6761be48f5887d57d66c708" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a> and Reuters, protesters gathered at Wulumuqi Road in Shanghai on Saturday, which is named after Urumqi, to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the fire. Around 100 police officers stood by to reportedly keep demonstrators from gathering.
At some point during the night, police deployed pepper spray into a crowd of about 300 protesters. A witness told the AP that one of his friends was beaten, and two others were pepper sprayed. He added that police stepped on his feet while he tried to prevent them from taking his friend away; he also lost his shoes in the chaos and was left barefoot.
Outside Shanghai, major cities and college campuses were also the scenes of major protests. Reuters reported that demonstrations broke out in the cities of Wuhan, Chengdu, Lanzhou, and Beijing on Sunday. Protests in Wuhan reportedly turned violent, with demonstrators smashing through metal barricades, overturning testing tents, and demanding an end to lockdowns. The New York Times reported another protest in the city of Korla in northern Xinjiang.
John Rigolizzo contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-meets-with-apple-ceo-tim-cook-reveals-resolved-issue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk Meets With Apple CEO Tim Cook, Reveals ‘Resolved’ Issue</a>

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook Hides Behind Staffers As He’s Grilled For Enabling Communist China’s Human Rights Abuses

Apple CEO Tim Cook Hides Behind Staffers As He's Grilled For Enabling Communist China's Human Rights Abuses

Business

Communist China

Technology

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lindsey-graham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lindsey Graham</a> (R-SC) said during a Fox News interview Wednesday that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> is making a big &#8220;mistake&#8221; when it comes to siding with the Chinese Communist Party and their crackdowns on protests throughout China.
&#8220;Corporate appeasement of the Chinese Communist Party is pretty rampant,&#8221; Graham told Fox News. &#8220;I like Apple. They&#8217;re a great American company. But the Chinese Communist Party writes the rules of the road. And to do business in China, you either leave the customer base or you follow their lead.&#8221;
&#8220;The NBA has appeased China. The movie industry appeases China, now Apple. And I think this is a &#8212; this is a mistake,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;So, you have got Apple threatening to take Twitter out of the Apple Store and at the same time doing the bidding of the Communist Party, restricting sharing of information to people who are trying to protest.&#8221;
&#8220;I think we have got it backwards here,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And I think what drives this is just money and market share.&#8221;
On Wednesday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, after which Musk tweeted regarding the notion that Twitter would be removed from the App Store: “Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”
WATCH:
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=6316374159112&#038;w=466&#038;h=263"></script><noscript>Watch the latest video at <a href="https://www.foxnews.com">foxnews.com</a></noscript>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The Chinese Communist Party cracking down on protesters as they rally against COVID lockdowns.
We are now learning America&#8217;s largest company, Apple, has restricted the use of its AirDrop feature in the communist nation. It allowed users to share content between Apple devices and dodge China&#8217;s censorship. And now Elon Musk says Apple&#8217;s threatening to boot Twitter from its App Store.
So, how did we get to a point where big tech companies consider 280 characters a bigger threat than the communist regime?
Let&#8217;s bring in South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
Senator, good to have you here today.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Thank you.
SMITH: Why are we here today? And why are we not going tougher on China for its behavior?
GRAHAM: Money. You got a billion people in China.
Corporate appeasement of the Chinese Communist Party is pretty rampant. I like Apple. They&#8217;re a great American company. But the Chinese Communist Party writes the rules of the road. And to do business in China, you either leave the customer base or you follow their lead.
The NBA has appeased China. The movie industry appeases China, now Apple. And I think this is a &#8212; this is a mistake. So, you have got Apple threatening to take Twitter out of the Apple Store and at the same time doing the bidding of the Communist Party, restricting sharing of information to people who are trying to protest.
I think we have got it backwards here. And I think what drives this is just money and market share.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, well, obviously too Apple has got a lot invested in this&#8230;
GRAHAM: Yes.
ROBERTS: &#8230; because of the protests against the COVID lockdowns at Foxconn factories. It looks like Apple is going to be short some six million iPhone Pros this year. So that&#8217;s definitely going to hurt their bottom line.
But it also gets into the idea of free speech when we pull back to 30,000 feet here, and we take a look at the idea that Apple, according to Elon Musk, may reexamine whether or not the Twitter app is available on the Apple Store.
And Musk also tweeted this &#8212; quote &#8212; &#8220;Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?&#8221;
(LAUGHTER)
GRAHAM: Well, all I can say, that Apple is a private company and Twitter&#8217;s a private company. They have their differences.
I would hope that Apple would keep allowing Twitter to be part of the Apple Store. But, big tech, you can&#8217;t sue these people because of Section 230. And there&#8217;s no regulatory scheme that works.
So I&#8217;m going to unveil a Digital Regulatory Commission to deal with social media companies like Apple and Twitter and Google. We need some regulatory environment to control the abuses of power here. So, I&#8217;m going to do that with Elizabeth Warren. You look for something that can bring us together in Washington, social media is out of control. They need to be regulated in some fashion.
And I think that brings both parties together.
SMITH: OK, so then maybe you agree with Karine Jean-Pierre at the Biden White House, who said this. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We&#8217;re all keeping a close eye on this. We&#8217;re all monitoring what&#8217;s &#8212; what&#8217;s currently occurring. And we see &#8212; we see it with our own eyes of what you all are reporting and just for ourselves what&#8217;s happening on Twitter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: So, the White House says it&#8217;s keeping a close eye on what is happening at Twitter.
GRAHAM: Yes.
SMITH: Do you agree with &#8212; with that?
GRAHAM: No, I think somebody needs to regulate social media companies, who are the largest companies on the planet.
If they take down your content &#8212; I like Elon Musk. Well, there may be somebody in charge of Twitter tomorrow that I don&#8217;t like. So, what happens if you&#8217;re a consumer if Twitter or any other group takes your content down? You have to appeal to the company yourself &#8212; itself.
I want to create a process where a consumer can make their case that my rights were abused to somebody other than the company. I&#8217;m not asking the White House to watch Twitter. We have the commission for securities. We have a commission for about every activity in America to make sure the consumer is protected.
When it comes to social media, your privacy is at risk, your content can be taken down because somebody doesn&#8217;t like you or what you&#8217;re saying. We need to have a system to deal with those problems.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dereliction-of-duty-senators-cruz-graham-warn-mayorkas-of-impeachment-over-border-crisis">‘Dereliction Of Duty’: Senators Cruz, Graham Warn Mayorkas Of Impeachment Over Border Crisis</a>

Senate Holds Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings For Ketanji Brown Jackson

Senator Graham: Apple Is Making A Big ‘Mistake’ By Caving To The Chinese Communist Party

Senator Graham: Apple Is Making A Big 'Mistake' By Caving To The Chinese Communist Party

Big Tech

Elon Musk

Lindsey Graham

Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> met with Apple CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Cook</a> Wednesday at Apple&#8217;s headquarters in Cupertino, California, and said that they resolved the conflict that erupted this week.
&#8220;Good conversation,&#8221; Musk tweeted. &#8220;Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598090996281413638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The meeting came after Musk signaled Monday that he was willing to “go to war” with Apple after the company had largely stopped advertising on Twitter and had allegedly threatened to boot the social media platform from its App Store.
Musk specifically called out Cook in a series of tweets where he also raised the issue of censorship.
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” Musk asked. “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”
“Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why,” Musk added.
Musk then posted a poll, which he has used in the past to make decisions about what he will do at the company, asking, “Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers[?]”
Musk highlighted an account that claimed to have been silenced by Apple and asked, “Who else has Apple censored?”
Musk also renewed his criticisms of the fees that Apple charges app developers, “Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store?”
Account impersonations and Musk’s endorsement of some conservative figures have provoked ire among left-wing nonprofits, some of whom recently pressured advertisers to cease their relationship with the social media company. Several organizations endorsed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extremely-messed-up-elon-musk-blasts-activist-groups-for-pushing-advertisers-to-ditch-twitter-destroy-free-speech-in-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the executives of major advertisers, claiming that “extremists” consider the takeover “a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery,” including “clear threats of violence against people with whom they disagree.”
The world’s richest man initially <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> advertisers that he acquired Twitter to “have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.” He vowed that the social media platform would not become a “free-for-all hellscape” where users could breach the law with impunity.
Musk has <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593385611632594944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> that widespread coverage of the acquisition and his subsequent attempts to reform the company, including negative reports from legacy outlets, has contributed to usage reaching record levels. He said his number-one priority is the <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1595671290421170179" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removal</a> of child exploitation content from Twitter, which previous management neglected to accomplish. Several advertisers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-companies-remove-advertisements-from-twitter-over-child-pornography-allegations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paused campaigns</a> on the platform two months ago after a report showed that child sexual abuse material had appeared alongside major advertisers’ profiles.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-to-start-creating-smartphones-if-apple-google-remove-twitter-from-app-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Musk To Start Creating Smartphones If Apple, Google Remove Twitter From App Stores</a>

Elon Musk Visits Germany

Elon Musk Meets With Apple CEO Tim Cook, Reveals ‘Resolved’ Issue

Elon Musk Meets With Apple CEO Tim Cook, Reveals 'Resolved' Issue

Twitter

Twitter CEO Elon Musk signaled Monday that he might be preparing to &#8220;go to war&#8221; with Apple after the company has largely stopped advertising on Twitter and has reportedly threatened to boot the social media platform from its App Store.
Musk specifically called out Apple CEO Tim Cook in a series of tweets where he also raised the issue of censorship.
&#8220;Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?&#8221; Musk asked. &#8220;What’s going on here @tim_cook?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What’s going on here <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tim_cook</a>?
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597290422375587840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why,&#8221; Musk added.
Musk then posted a poll, which he has used in the past to make decisions about what he will do at the company, asking, &#8220;Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers[?]&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597295832759382016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Musk highlighted an account that claimed to have been silenced by Apple and asked, &#8220;Who else has Apple censored?&#8221;
Musk also renewed his criticisms of the fees that Apple charges app developers, &#8220;Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store?&#8221;
Musk stated back in May that &#8220;Apple’s store is like having a 30% tax on the Internet.&#8221;
&#8220;Definitely not ok,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Literally 10 times higher than it should be.&#8221;
Musk also shared a meme suggesting he would rather &#8220;Go To War&#8221; with Apple than &#8220;Pay 30%.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/uKEY9mVujp">pic.twitter.com/uKEY9mVujp</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597302404239659008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In 2018, Cook <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-apples-ceo-suggests-its-sin-not-ban-people-ryan-saavedra">said</a> at an event in New York City that tech companies have a moral obligation to ban certain people and certain types of content from social media and technology platforms, going so far as to suggest that not banning them is “a sin.”
“We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division, and violence: You have no place on our platforms,” Cook said. “You have no home here.”
“If we can’t be clear on moral questions like these, then we’ve got big problems,” Cook continued. “I believe the most sacred thing that each of us is given is our judgment, our morality, our own innate desire to separate right from wrong. Choosing to set that responsibility aside at a moment of trial is a sin.”
Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-to-start-creating-smartphones-if-apple-google-remove-twitter-from-app-stores">said</a> Friday that he would start creating smartphones if <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google</a> remove Twitter from their app stores, which would be highly damaging to Twitter.
Musk’s remarks came in response to a tweet from political commentator Liz Wheeler, who wrote: “If Apple &amp; Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone.”
“Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone &amp; Android,” she said. “The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”
Musk responded, “I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-announces-he-would-support-desantis-for-president-if-desantis-runs">Musk Announces He Would Support DeSantis For President If DeSantis Runs</a>

The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” – Arrivals

‘Go To War’: Musk Targets Apple, Claiming It Canceled Ads, Threatened To Boot Twitter From App Store

Musk Targets Apple After It Cancels Ads, Threatens To Boot Twitter From App Store

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Cook</a> dismissed the notion that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">technology</a> company should make iPhones more compatible with devices that run the Android operating system.
At a Wednesday night event, the executive <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23342243/tim-cook-apple-rcs-imessage-android-iphone-compatibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to a question from Vox Media journalist LiQuan Hunt about enabling Rich Communication Services (RCS) — a protocol that would replace SMS messages with a more comprehensive texting system — into iPhone products.
“I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point,” responded Cook, who replaced Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011. “I would love to convert you to an iPhone.”
Apple held a 48% share of the American smartphone market in the second quarter of 2022, according to <a href="https://www.counterpointresearch.com/us-market-smartphone-share/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from research firm Counterpoint, with Samsung — which uses Android in many of its products — falling in second place with a 30% market share.
When Hunt noted that his mother is unable to watch the videos he sends via text due to the incompatibility between iMessage and RCS, Cook responded: “Buy your mom an iPhone.”
Google, which commercially sponsors Android, has mounted a <a href="https://www.android.com/get-the-message/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicity campaign</a> against Apple to pressure the market leader into adopting the RCS protocol. “It’s not about the color of the bubbles. It’s the blurry videos, broken group chats, missing read receipts and typing indicators, no texting over Wi-Fi, and more,” a webpage from Android argues. “These problems exist because Apple refuses to adopt modern texting standards when people with iPhones and Android phones text each other.”
Cook’s remarks come days after Apple <a href="https://www.apple.com/iphone-14-pro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> four new iPhones and three new Apple Watches — including the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and Apple Watch Ultra — at a press event. The new smartphones will allow users to place emergency calls in areas without cell service by pointing their devices at satellites.
“It was a great day at Apple Park, introducing the world to products that are essential to our daily lives and that work seamlessly together,” Cook <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1567634224978575361" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> via social media on Wednesday.
Members of Congress have been eyeing Apple and other technology companies for possible antitrust violations. Although proposals such as the Open App Markets Act and the American Innovation and Choice Online Act — which would have restricted companies with their own shopping platforms or app stores from promoting their own products against other offerings — have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-senate-weighs-antitrust-bills-apples-ceo-called-ted-cruz-with-significant-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed to advance</a> through Congress in recent months, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/congress-weighs-data-privacy-bill-that-would-regulate-targeted-ads-online" target="_blank" rel="noopener">greenlit</a> by the House Energy and Commerce Committee at the end of July.
The legislation would adopt a “data minimization” approach toward firms’ collection of user information such that only the data points “reasonably necessary and proportionate” to specific applications — including user authentication, fraud prevention, and transaction execution — are gathered. According to an <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/american-data-privacy-protection-act-adppa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from Wired, the bill would differ from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), under which users must consent to the presence of cookies — files created by websites to track an individual’s online behavior.
While the legislation does not entirely ban online targeted advertising — which is often the motive for sites’ collection of user data — it prohibits such advertising directed toward children or based upon “sensitive covered data,” including health information, precise geolocation, and private messages.

Apple Holds Launch Event For New Products At Its Headquarters

‘Buy Your Mom An iPhone’: Apple CEO Brushes Off Request To Improve Texting Experience With Android

Apple CEO Tim Cook Dismisses Request To Implement RCS Texting

Last week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Brendan Carr slammed Apple CEO, Tim Cook, for hypocrisy, after the Big Tech executive gave a speech regarding “Apple’s commitment to running the App Store in a way that promotes human rights.”
Carr <a href="https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1517181456732540934">argued</a> that Cook’s words run counter to the “harsh reality of Apple’s conduct in China.”
In a letter to Cook, Carr noted that while the Apple CEO was speaking in D.C. about his “App Store policies promoting privacy and human rights,” his company was “continuing its well documented campaign in Beijing of aggressively censoring apps at the behest of the Communist Party of China.”
Carr concluded, arguing that it is “past time to stand up” for human rights, and for Apple to “evaluate its overall relationship with China, particularly its extensive manufacturing operations there, to ensure that these relationships reflect the global Apple voices.”
Carr’s criticism follows <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html">The New York Times</a>’ bombshell report from May 2021, in which it was shown that Apple’s self-proclaimed quest for privacy doesn’t apply when it comes to users of its products and services in China.
According to the report, Apple planned to store user data at centers in Guiyang, China — and another in the Inner Mongolia region — after largely ceding “control to the Chinese government.” This involved Chinese state management of the computers, the abandonment of encryption technology not permitted by the Chinese regime, and “digital keys that unlock information on those computers” being held in the very “data centers they’re meant to secure.”
“But to stay on the right side of Chinese regulators, his company has put the data of its Chinese customers at risk and has aided government censorship in the Chinese version of its App Store,” the report said of Cook.
The report also detailed allegations by current and former employees of the Silicon Valley giant that Cook “ultimately approved the plans to store customer data on Chinese servers and to aggressively censor apps” on the Apple “App Store.”
This came despite Apple’s claim to be committed to both “human rights” and privacy. In their “Our Commitment to Human Rights” document, for example, they declared that they “feel a deep sense of responsibility to make technology for people that respects their human rights, empowers them with useful tools and information, and enhances their overall quality of life.” 
According to the Big Tech giant, such “commitment” involves “setting the industry standard for minimizing personal data collection,” by building “ privacy protections into everything [they] make.”
Ian Haworth is a writer for The Daily Wire and contributor to Morning Wire. Follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ighaworth">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/IanGHaworth">YouTube</a>.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Slammed For Human Rights Hypocrisy Over China Censorship

On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had a 40-minute phone conversation with Apple chief executive Tim Cook about pending antitrust legislation.
According to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/senate-to-mark-up-antitrust-bills-targeting-apple-google-and-amazon.html">CNBC</a>, the Senate Judiciary Committee — of which Cruz is a member — will discuss bipartisan legislation such as the Open App Markets Act and the American Innovation and Choice Online Act at the end of this week. Both bills are meant to curb technology companies’ abilities to give preference to their own services on platforms that they created.
Cruz said that Cook “expressed significant concerns” during their phone call — specifically with the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.
“One issue that he raised, that I thought was a reasonable issue, was a concern that the bill would erect obstacles to Apple giving consumers the ability to opt out of apps monitoring what they’re doing online, where they’re going, and what’s occurring on their phone,” Cruz said, as reported by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/ted-cruz-spoke-to-apple-ceo-tim-cook-for-40-minutes-about-antitrust.html">CNBC</a>. “I want to clarify for the record that I don’t read the language of this bill as applying to or as being intended to apply to tech companies giving consumers the ability to to exercise choice or to opt out of privacy-invasive policies.”
Cruz is driven by a desire to ensure that online platforms do not censor debate — an objective shared by many other Republican officials. Last month, for example, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-big-tech-has-become-the-censorship-arm-of-the-democratic-party">called</a> technology conglomerates “the censorship arm of the Democratic Party and political Left, silencing and de-platforming anyone who rejects the chosen left-wing narrative.”
“Silicon Valley oligarchs shouldn’t be the arbiters of free speech in our country. We must fight back!” he added.
More recently, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-just-want-my-silence-rand-paul-quits-youtube-slams-big-tech-censorship">published</a> an opinion piece announcing that he would begin an exodus from “Big Tech” — beginning with YouTube.
“Everyone complains about Big Tech. The Left says Big Tech doesn’t censor enough. The right complains that Big Tech censors too much already,” Paul said. “Many in Congress, on the Left and the Right, want to break up or regulate Big Tech, but few of these loud voices have actually stepped up and quit using Big Tech.”
Paul slammed YouTube for deleting videos — including those he said included substantiated claims about the efficacy of cloth masks.
“A hallmark of the scientific method is to challenge and disprove a hypothesis,” Paul argued. “Yet we have abandoned science and rational debate for an almost religious adherence to the edicts of government bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci. To challenge the data is to be a ‘denier’ or ‘conspiracist’ who must be silenced.”
“An entire generation of young people, who use these platforms exclusively for their news, will never read or hear of opinions or ideas that challenge the Big Government / Big Tech orthodoxy,” Dr. Paul wrote later. “If they do happen to see, for example, an article claiming that the coronavirus could have originated with a lab leak in Wuhan, it is quickly condemned as ‘debunked’ or a ‘conspiracy’ by the invisible, all-knowing ‘fact-checkers’ employed by Big Tech. Until of course, it isn’t — but by then, it’s too late, public attention has moved on, the damage done.”

Ted Cruz

As Senate Weighs Antitrust Bills, Apple’s CEO Called Ted Cruz With ‘Significant Concerns’

Antitrust

Apple CEO Tim Cook called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to dissuade Congress’ efforts to regulate Big Tech firms.
As The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/technology/amazon-apple-google-facebook-antitrust-bills.html">revealed</a>:
<blockquote>The antitrust bills were rushed, he said. They would crimp innovation. And they would hurt consumers by disrupting the services that power Apple’s lucrative iPhone, Mr. Cook cautioned at various points, according to five people with knowledge of the conversations.</blockquote>
The phone call was one manifestation of a massive lobbying effort from Big Tech companies:
<blockquote>The calls by Mr. Cook are part of a forceful and wide-ranging pushback by the tech industry since the proposals were announced this month. Executives, lobbyists, and more than a dozen think tanks and advocacy groups paid by tech companies have swarmed Capitol offices, called and emailed lawmakers and their staff members, and written letters arguing there will be dire consequences for the industry and the country if the ideas become law.</blockquote>
Lobbyists and top executives from Amazon and Google have also pressured Congress in recent days as both Republicans and Democrats supported proposals that would regulate Silicon Valley. Lawmakers from the former party are primarily concerned about restrictions on free speech; lawmakers from the latter are worried about high market concentration.
Two weeks ago, a bipartisan group in the House of Representatives <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bipartisan-antitrust-bills-would-break-up-amazon-google-apple-facebook">unveiled</a> a series of bills meant to “expand opportunities for consumers, workers, and small business owners by holding unregulated Big Tech monopolies accountable for anti-competitive conduct.”
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) explained that “Big Tech has abused its dominance in the marketplace to crush competitors, censor speech, and control how we see and understand the world.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) asserted that “not only is self-regulation by Big Tech patently ineffective, but it also comes at the direct expense of workers, consumers, small businesses, our local communities, and the free press.”
Among the proposed bills are:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__house.us10.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3D74c3e2b28ce7d8101adbebab4-26id-3Db59209da76-26e-3D57f90450a9&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=L93KkjKsAC98uTvC4KvQDdTDRzAeWDDRmG6S3YXllH0&amp;r=su4Sg8SlqTQYZdqrko5vh268yQ74l09FDIvpBRt5qVahtztM-FdqOPXR0UIHpKDy&amp;m=i5vIIlURwc_aN0SPL7k-wf4npza01LE8Fy9oiqmrgw4&amp;s=wzHu0BNLY7NfCLzK4yjY76wKoUxBS9PWQCfopO2CtcI&amp;e=">The American Innovation and Choice Online Act</a>, which would prohibit “discriminatory conduct by dominant platforms, including a ban on self-preferencing and picking winners and losers online.”</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__house.us10.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3D74c3e2b28ce7d8101adbebab4-26id-3D5718755402-26e-3D57f90450a9&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=L93KkjKsAC98uTvC4KvQDdTDRzAeWDDRmG6S3YXllH0&amp;r=su4Sg8SlqTQYZdqrko5vh268yQ74l09FDIvpBRt5qVahtztM-FdqOPXR0UIHpKDy&amp;m=i5vIIlURwc_aN0SPL7k-wf4npza01LE8Fy9oiqmrgw4&amp;s=KnqQe5uH7UOCiiTUtbOH_EFPQONcq8D_YhcZHI_WiGA&amp;e=">The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act</a>, which would halt “competitive threats by dominant platforms, as well acquisitions that expand or entrench the market power of online platforms.”</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__house.us10.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3D74c3e2b28ce7d8101adbebab4-26id-3Db2725b3b9a-26e-3D57f90450a9&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=L93KkjKsAC98uTvC4KvQDdTDRzAeWDDRmG6S3YXllH0&amp;r=su4Sg8SlqTQYZdqrko5vh268yQ74l09FDIvpBRt5qVahtztM-FdqOPXR0UIHpKDy&amp;m=i5vIIlURwc_aN0SPL7k-wf4npza01LE8Fy9oiqmrgw4&amp;s=rvKVstRrULVrtN8dwjD8nyeMjKeSSI3W4G6gkYxYvqA&amp;e=">The Ending Platform Monopolies Act</a>, which would eliminate the ability of dominant platforms to “leverage their control over across multiple business lines to self-preference and disadvantage competitors in ways that undermine free and fair competition.”</li>
</ul>
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently signed a <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2021/05/24/governor-ron-desantis-signs-bill-to-stop-the-censorship-of-floridians-by-big-tech/">bill</a> to stop the censorship of Floridians by social media companies.
“This session, we took action to ensure that ‘We the People’ — real Floridians across the Sunshine State — are guaranteed protection against the Silicon Valley elites,” remarked the governor. “Many in our state have experienced censorship and other tyrannical behavior firsthand in Cuba and Venezuela. If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook Called Nancy Pelosi Directly As Big Tech Regulations Gained Steam

Nancy Pelosi

Apple claims to be committed to both “human rights” and privacy. In their “Our Commitment to Human Rights” document, they declare that they “feel a deep sense of responsibility to make technology for people that respects their human rights, empowers them with useful tools and information, and enhances their overall quality of life.” 
“We do that with our — setting the industry standard for minimizing personal data collection. We build privacy protections into everything we make — from products like iPhone, to services like Apple Pay, to our comprehensive review process for every app on the App Store,” the <a href="https://s2.q4cdn.com/470004039/files/doc_downloads/gov_docs/Apple-Human-Rights-Policy.pdf">document</a> continues. “Hand in hand with the privacy of our users is our commitment to freedom of information and expression. Our products help our customers communicate, learn, express their creativity, and exercise their ingenuity. We believe in the critical importance of an open society in which information flows freely, and we’re convinced the best way we can continue to promote openness is to remain engaged, even where we may disagree with a country’s laws.”
However, according to a bombshell report from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html">The New York Times</a>, Apple’s self-proclaimed quest for privacy doesn’t apply when it comes to users of its products and services in China.
According to the report, Apple plans to store user data at centers in Guiyang, China — and another in the Inner Mongolia region — after largely ceding “control to the Chinese government.” This involves Chinese state management of the computers, the abandonment of encryption technology not permitted by the Chinese regime, and “digital keys that unlock information on those computers” being held in the very “data centers they’re meant to secure.”
“But to stay on the right side of Chinese regulators, his company has put the data of its Chinese customers at risk and has aided government censorship in the Chinese version of its App Store,” the report said of Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
The report also details claims by current and former employees of the Silicon Valley giant that Cook “ultimately approved the plans to store customer data on Chinese servers and to aggressively censor apps” on the Apple “App Store.”
“Apple has become a cog in the censorship machine that presents a government-controlled version of the internet,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Asia director for the human rights group, Amnesty International. “If you look at the behavior of the Chinese government, you don’t see any resistance from Apple — no history of standing up for the principles that Apple claims to be so attached to.”
On the subject of “free speech,” Apple reportedly “proactively censors its Chinese App Store, relying on software and employees to flag and block apps that Apple managers worry could run afoul of Chinese officials, according to interviews and court documents.”
 Among the tens of thousands of censored apps include “foreign news outlets, gay dating services and encrypted messaging apps,” as well as “tools for organizing pro-democracy protests and skirting internet restrictions, as well as apps about the Dalai Lama.”
“And in its data centers, Apple’s compromises have made it nearly impossible for the company to stop the Chinese government from gaining access to the emails, photos, documents, contacts and locations of millions of Chinese residents, according to the security experts and Apple engineers,” the Times added.
Despite the tech giant&#8217;s “Commitment to Human Rights,” its financial relationship with China apparently outweighs its “commitment” to the comparatively unimportant notions of “privacy” and “freedom of expression.”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">@ighaworth</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Despite ‘Uncompromising Commitment To Security And User Privacy,’ Apple Is Handing Over Data To China

Censorship

China

As the calls for the breakup of big tech corporations grow louder from consumers to presidential candidates like Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Apple CEO Tim Cook took this perspective head-on in an interview with CBS news anchor <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tim-cook-interview-apple-ceo-insists-company-is-not-a-monopoly-exclusive-today-2019-06-04/">Norah O&#8217;Donnell</a>. 
At the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Cook laid out his case for why Apple is not a monopoly, though he acknowledged the big tech company is not above &#8220;scrutiny.&#8221;
&#8220;No. I don&#8217;t think so,&#8221; he replied when O&#8217;Donnell asked if Apple is too big. 
&#8220;I think scrutiny is fair,&#8221; Cook said. &#8220;I think we should be scrutinized. But if you look at our&#8230; any kind of measure about is Apple a monopoly or not, I don&#8217;t think anybody reasonable is gonna come to the conclusion that Apple&#8217;s a monopoly. Our share is much more modest. We don&#8217;t have a dominant position in any market &#8230; You know, our share of smartphones in the U.S. is typically in the high 30s or so, mid-30s. On PCs, it&#8217;s lower than that.&#8221;
He emphasized, &#8220;We are not a monopoly.&#8221;
Elizabeth Warren has been on the warpath, targeting big tech and Apple specifically in an interview with <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/9/18257965/elizabeth-warren-break-up-apple-monopoly-antitrust">The Verge</a>.
&#8220;Apple, you&#8217;ve got to break it apart from their App Store,&#8221; she opined. &#8220;It&#8217;s got to be one or the other. Either they run the platform or they play in the store. They don&#8217;t get to do both at the same time. So it&#8217;s the same notion.&#8221; 
When asked directly about Senator Warren&#8217;s desire to break-up Apple, Cook doubled down on his comments.
&#8220;Well, I strongly disagree with that,&#8221; Cook told O&#8217;Donnell. &#8220;I think some people would argue, if you are selling a good, then you can&#8217;t have a product that competes with that good.&#8221; 
Cook continued. &#8220;And I think that&#8217;s part of what is being argued there. But that&#8217;s an argument, Norah, that takes you down the path that, Walmart shouldn&#8217;t be stocking alternative or house brand. And so this is decades of U.S. law here. But I think scrutiny is good, and we&#8217;ll be&#8230; we&#8217;ll tell our story to anybody that we need to or that wants to hear it.&#8221;
Watch the clip below:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_3cGWQ96P1Y" width="853"></iframe></div>
When pressed by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tim-cook-interview-apple-ceo-privacy-protections-exclusive-today-2019-06-03/">O&#8217;Donnell</a> about the privacy of Apple users, Cook emphasized that they stand apart from Facebook and Google, though he claimed he was not &#8220;really taking a shot at anybody.&#8221;
&#8220;We focus on the user. And the user wants the ability to go across numerous properties on the web without being under surveillance,&#8221; Cook explained. &#8220;We&#8217;re moving privacy protections forward.&#8221; 
He added, &#8220;I actually think it&#8217;s a very reasonable request for people to make.&#8221;
Cook also praised users for becoming more aware of the lack of privacy that is starting to creep in on digital platforms.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not good for our country,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You can imagine an environment where everyone begins to think there&#8217;s no privacy. And if there&#8217;s no privacy, your freedom of expression just plummets. Because now you&#8217;re going to be thinking about that everybody&#8217;s gonna know every single thing you&#8217;re doing. This is not good for our country, not good for democracy.&#8221;
<div> </div>

Tim Cook: “Apple Is Not A Monopoly”

Conservatism

Elizabeth Warren

Media

During Tulane University&#8217;s commencement ceremony last Saturday, Apple CEO Tim Cook confessed to the graduating class, &#8220;In some important ways, my generation has failed you.&#8221; He&#8217;s right, but for all the wrong reasons.
Cook told the students he regrets that his generation &#8220;spent too much time debating,&#8221; a strange lament in a democratic republic. How does Cook wish his generation had behaved? &#8220;We&#8217;ve been too focused on the fight and not focused enough on progress,&#8221; by which he meant climate change. Our nation&#8217;s deliberative processes might suffice for trivial political questions, but when it comes to important issues like &#8220;climate change&#8221; &#8212; or global warming, or global cooling, or whichever pseudo-scientific term the politicians parrot this week &#8212; we must suspend our nation&#8217;s system of self-government in favor of whichever policy progressives deem necessary.
Cook&#8217;s anti-democratic tone struck a sharp contrast with the advice his predecessor Steve Jobs offered to graduating students at Stanford in 2005. &#8220;Don&#8217;t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people&#8217;s thinking,&#8221; Jobs explained. &#8220;Don&#8217;t let the noise of others&#8217; opinions drown out your own inner voice.&#8221; In 1997, the recently rehired Jobs rebranded Apple with the slogan &#8220;think different.&#8221; Two decades later, his successor advised students to think the same.
&#8220;Human civilization began when we realized that we could do more together,&#8221; recalled Cook, for whom doing &#8220;more&#8221; means growing the government. &#8220;It&#8217;s worked before,&#8221; he insisted. &#8220;In 1932, the American economy was in a free-fall. [&#8230;] Franklin Roosevelt refused to wait. He challenged the status quo and called for action.&#8221; Indeed he did. As UCLA economists Harold Cole and Lee Ohanian demonstrated in a four-year-long study, FDR&#8217;s actions likely prolonged the Great Depression by a full seven years.
Read the rest <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/michael-knowles-tim-cook-gives-terrible-advice-to-graduates">here</a>.

Menu