Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered a surprise keynote at China’s World Internet Conference, touting the value of privacy, security and “humanity,” Bloomberg reports. The tone of the conference was decidedly different than Cook’s speech, with officials calling for more government data collection online to combat terrorism and other criminal activities.
Wang Huning, one of the key officials in the Politburo Standing Committee that makes policy on government regulation of online activities, went so far as to call for a “global response team” that could operate well beyond China’s borders. Apple is facing increased pressure in China — its main manufacturing location and a lucrative smartphone market — as the government continues crackdowns on social media, news organizations and other in-app transactions.
“The theme of this conference — developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits — is a vision we at Apple share,” Cook said in his mostly generic comments that didn’t note obvious censorship and privacy violations proposed by official government speakers.
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