WASHINGTON: A bipartisan group of seven US lawmakers including Senators Ted Cruz, Ron Wyden and Marco Rubio and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday urged Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook to restore the HKMap app used in Hong Kong.
Earlier this month, Apple removed the app that helped Hong Kong protesters track police movements, saying it was used to target officers.
Apple declined to comment.
The group separately wrote Activision Blizzard Inc’s chief executive Robert Kotick, calling on him to reverse the company’s decision to ban a player who voiced support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Activision Blizzard did not immediately comment on Friday.
“You have said publicly that you want to work with China’s leaders to effect change rather than sit on the sidelines and yell at them. We, too, believe that diplomacy and trade can be democratizing forces. But when a repressive government refuses to evolve or, indeed, when it doubles down, cooperation can become complicity,” the members wrote to Cook.
Apple said on Oct. 9 that it had begun an immediate investigation after “many concerned customers in Hong Kong” contacted it about the app and the company found it had endangered law enforcement and residents.
It said the HKMap app “has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement.” Critics said Apple acted after pressure from Beijing in a commentary in the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper.
The lawmakers said Apple has censored at least 2,200 apps in China, citing the nonprofit group GreatFire.
Apple’s action came amid a furor surrounding the US National Basketball Association after a team official tweeted in support of the Hong Kong protests, which led Chinese sponsors and partners to cut ties with the NBA.
Last week, Blizzard reduced the punishment dealt out to Chung Ng Wai, a Hong Kong-based Hearthstone esports gamer, for his public support of pro-democracy protests after its decision sparked controversy among players and the public.
Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, said initially that it would suspend the player from competition for a year and strip him of prize money.
US lawmakers urge Apple to restore HKMap app used in Hong Kong
US lawmakers urge Apple to restore HKMap app used in Hong Kong
- The lawmakers said Apple has censored at least 2,200 apps in China, citing the nonprofit group GreatFire
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
