Marco ArmentOct 3

Glad to see Apple's leaders showing so much courage.

I'm sure their founders, and the historical heroes they love to quote on their homepage on important dates, would've been so proud of the courage and values they practice today.

https://www.theverge.com/news/791170/iceblock-app-store-removed-by-apple

Apple pulls ICEBlock from the App Store

Apple pulled the ICEBlock app from the iOS App Store, with AG Pam Bondi claiming it was at the DOJ’s request.

The Verge
Show threadMarco ArmentOct 3

Are any of you still thinking Tim Cook is just doing what he "needs" to do, throwing his own reputation under the bus as a selfless act to protect a larger social well-being, rather than literally just *supporting* the Trump regime because the political favors he negotiates help his company make even more money?

Can we all finally see it now?

Would anyone bend over backwards so far to try to excuse this behavior for anyone else, or any other company, performing the same actions that Cook has?

Show threadChad Marriotti
@marcoarment I still think you’re grossly overreacting. Like I’ve always said, this is how you handle business under a corrupt, authoritarian leadership. Other asshole CEOs can be ignored and stood up against. But when the leader of your country can make a decision that can literally end your existence (see Colbert) this is how you have to operate.
Oct 3 at 4:51pmIvory for iOS
Show threadjaredrfrancisOct 3
@Cmarriotti @marcoarment this point. The entire corporate class has decided that appeasement is the best strategy to protect their bottom line. I’m not sure why we think it’s the responsibility of corporations to be the bulwark against authoritarian overreach. There is very little public mobilization at this point, which is much more concerning.
Show threadJuri PakasteOct 3

@jaredrfrancis @Cmarriotti @marcoarment there exist perfectly reasonable ways to organize software distribution on computing devices, ones in which Tim Cook isn’t the bottleneck that the government can squeeze.

Apple has consistently attacked any suggestion they adopt any of those. They want to be the tool of the people in charge.

Show threadjaredrfrancisOct 3

@juri @Cmarriotti I think we’ve seen is that the government is capable of squeezing any individual or corporate actor.

Would it be better if well resourced organizations pushed back on the Trump administration? Sure. But government pressuring companies isn’t new or unique to the current authoritarian goons. Corporate resistance isn’t a substitute for popular mobilization.

Show threadIsaac FreemanOct 3

@Cmarriotti This is how you handle business under a corrupt authoritarian leadership… if you believe you have no power to oppose them, or if you do but don't care.

Apple clearly has power to resist here. They have many lawyers and vast resources to pay them. They could say “So sue me”. They could insist that they will not remove an app that helps people protect their neighbours from being illegally rounded up and shipped to concentration camps by masked thugs. They are clearly capable of making this very difficult, very expensive, and very public before they're actually forced to comply. There's every chance that Trump would cave or lose interest, and they would win.

The leadership of Apple presumably aren't ignorant of their position, so it's reasonable to assume that at best they don't care enough to try.
@marcoarment

Show threadChad MarriottiOct 4
@isaacfreeman here’s the difference. Trump could apply a 1000% tariff on all Apple products. Or force his FCC to declare iPhones cause undue stress on our networks and should be disabled. Trump literally has the power to end Apple if he thinks for a second they aren’t falling in line.
Show threadIsaac FreemanOct 4

@Cmarriotti He could decide to do these things regardless of whether Apple complies in advance. Trump has a long history of turning on people who thought they'd gained his favour. When Apple does what he wants, he doesn't see them as a friend, he just sees them as weak.

Apple has spent decades building a brand that aligns them with liberal values. They're proudly based in California, they use diverse actors in their advertising, they invest in accessibility features, they sell rainbow watch bands. Their founders were pot-smoking hippies and their CEO is the most famous gay man in the world. They're going to be a symbolic target for fascists whatever they do.

I agree the situation is perilous, but they'd be safer adopting a position of strength rather than trying to appease a bully.

Show threadFreediverXOct 4
@Cmarriotti @marcoarment
Colbert is no hero. Look at his interview of Zohran Mamdani, and compare with his interviews of Kamala Harris and Elissa Slotkin.
Show threadChad MarriottiOct 4
@freediverx @marcoarment you have completely missed the point.