The Guardian-Apple under fire over cancellation of Jon Stewart show amid China concerns
November 15, 2023 2 min 396 words
这则报道揭示了美国国会对于乔恩·斯图尔特政治喜剧节目在苹果公司流媒体服务中突然取消的担忧。报道称，与中国和人工智能相关的潜在节目主题引起了苹果高管的关切。国会信函要求苹果解释节目取消的原因，担忧与中国相关的内容是取消的原因。这引发了对外部势力是否影响美国公司决策的质疑。信函还要求苹果在12月15日前向国会提供关切的情况，并公开承诺对批评中共或中华人民共和国的内容持开放态度。此事凸显了娱乐业在中国审查制度下的挣扎，美国国会将中国对媒体的控制作为工作重点。这也呼吁我们审视跨国企业在平衡商业和言论自由方面所面临的压力。
US lawmakers asked Apple Inc to explain the abrupt end of the political comedian Jon Stewart’s television show on its streaming service, according to a letter made public on Wednesday, citing concerns that content related to China was behind the cancellation.
The New York Times reported last month that Stewart’s show on Apple’s streaming service was ending, the result of creative differences. The newspaper said Stewart told members of his staff that potential show topics related to China and artificial intelligence were causing concern to Apple executives.
Apple declined comment to the Times.
“While companies have the right to determine what content is appropriate for their streaming service, the coercive tactics of a foreign power should not be directly or indirectly influencing these determinations,” the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives’ select committee on competition with the Chinese Communist party said in the letter to Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook.
The letter asked representatives of Apple for a briefing on its concerns by 15 December 2023. It said it also expected to speak with representatives of Stewart.
“To reassure the creative community in light of these reports, we also respectfully request that Apple publicly commit that content that could be perceived as critical of the CCP or the PRC is welcome on Apple TV+ and other Apple services,” said the letter, signed by the panel’s Republican chairperson, Representative Michael Gallagher, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the panel’s ranking Democrat.
The letter was released ahead of a dinner expected on Wednesday night at which top US business leaders were to dine with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in San Francisco as he seeks to court American companies and counter his country’s recent struggles to entice foreign investment.
The dinner on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum would follow a day of talks between Xi and Joe Biden, aimed at stabilizing fraught ties between the world’s two largest economies.
The House committee has made China’s controls on media a focus of its work.
US lawmakers have long expressed concerns about potential Chinese government censorship given the ruling Communist party’s strict media controls. The concern is particularly acute for Hollywood films, as some studios have altered or self-censored scripts to appease Chinese government minders and gain access to the country’s market.