Support the Campaign
Support as a Developer
Support as an Apple Employee
Support the Campaign
Use and share the content on this site.
Test the availability of any app in any country’s app store by using our App Store Monitor.. See our methodology page to understand how the App Store Monitor works.
Use the social links at the bottom of each page to share the content.
Download and use the resources available on the “Campaign Kit” page. Use them on your website to promote your engagement to stop censorship by Apple. You can also print these resources as stickers or even posters for your events.
Send us information and help us improve our work.
We welcome any feedback you may have about AppleCensorship.com and any information that may help us improve our work to bring an end to censorship. Whether you’ve been a victim of censorship as an end-user, or as a developer (see section below), we are interested in hearing your story.
Similarly, if your government is pressuring Apple to censor content, please let us know.
Please contact us with your story – we read all messages and will always answer!
Contribute to the campaign.
While the AppleCensorship.com website has been built, other initiatives and efforts are running in parallel to encourage Apple to cease censorship on its platform. Since January 2019, when AppleCensorship.com was launched, monitoring App Stores worldwide has involved developing and improving the App Store Monitor algorithm, designing and hosting the AppleCensorship.com website, participating in international events, contacting political representatives, reaching out to the media, and designing and implementing a global campaign to force Apple to cease their censorship practices.
You can help in our efforts to stop Apple censorship by donating an amount of your choice to the campaign via Patreon. Each donation counts and no contribution is too small. You can donate anonymously, but if you include a message with your name and website’s address and email, you and your site will be listed on our supporters list.
Subscribe to the Apple Censorship Newsletter.
Stay updated on the latest developments in the Apple Censorship campaign.
Write to your local Apple Office.
Write to your local Apple Office or the US Headquarters to press them on their censorship practices.
Here is a template letter that you can complete, print, sign and send to Apple.
We recommend adding at least one specific example of an app being blocked on an App Store and encourage you to elaborate on any issue or concern that Apple’s censorship is raising for you.
We would be thrilled if you can follow up and let us know if you receive any answer from Apple.
Write to your local elected official.
Write to your local elected representative to alert them that Apple censorship practices, in your own country or in others, are in violation of individuals’ fundamental freedom to access information. Encourage your local representative to direct government resources to address this violation urgently.
Check this website if you need to find the contact details of your local political representative.
Support the Campaign as an iOS Developer
Report the censorship of your app to us.
If you are an app developer, in addition to all of the ways to contribute presented above, you could help us with the following:
If you’ve developed an app that you know or suspect has been censored by Apple, let us know about it and test your app with the App Store Monitor.
We are interested in hearing from you on this matter and we can provide information that will support your case should you choose to initiate a discussion with Apple. If your app has been proven to be censored, we are ready to advocate for the return of your app in the App Store.
Elude or confront Apple's censors by submitting sensitive or blocked content to the App Store.
If you’re willing to take some risks (we are only talking of commercial risks at worst, nothing actually dangerous here), you could try to upload some apps (we can discuss what kind of content we’re referring to once you’ve contacted us) to an App Store.
The app will either be accepted without any significant problem or be outright refused by Apple. There will be benefits to draw from in both cases. We will either have provided end users with a useful app that was previously blocked in their country or we will have another opportunity to confront Apple on their arbitrary, unethical censorship policy which violates the fundamental rights of many end users.
Contact us if you are interested in contributing in such a way.
Write to the ambassador of the country where your app is censored.
Write to your local ambassador expressing your concern for the blocking of your app. For example, if you are a Dutch developer and your app is blocked in China, you can write to the Dutch Ambassador in Beijing. You can use the template letter provided above (see WRITE TO YOUR LOCAL APPLE OFFICE) and request explanations on the legal basis that justify the blocking of your app. Again, any follow-up with us on the answer you may receive would be highly appreciated.
You can find any embassy’s website and contact details using the search engine provided here: https://www.embassypages.com/
Support the Campaign as an Apple Employee
Share, with absolute confidentiality, what you know about apple’s censorship practices.
Regardless of your position or area of expertise at Apple, we value any input you may want to share with us. Although Apple censorship of its App Stores has been well documented over the years, we are still interested in any information that may help us get closer to ending censorship by Apple. We are particularly interested in the following:
- The App Review Board and the App Store Review guidelines.
- The procedures leading to the removal of an app from a given App Store.
- Any information on Apple’s relationship and communication with governments who order the removal of an app from the App Store.
- Cases of censorship you may have witnessed or heard about.
- Any corporate internal communications received by Apple employees concerning the company’s policies related to its App Stores, apps and app developers.
- Any internal communications related to censorship and human rights.
We understand that we are most probably asking you to breach your employment contract by sharing information on the above listed topics, but:
- 1. We will soon be using GlobalLeaks as a secure whistleblowing platform to allow you to share your concerns with us. This same platform has been used by other organisations such as Transparency International, Amnesty and even the International Criminal Court (ICC).
- 2. We believe that the risk we are asking you to take could ultimately positively influence the human rights of the millions of Apple end users.
- 3. “Whistleblowing” is the ethical thing to do. It addresses wrongdoing and provides transparency related to the decisions that companies make when they are not being watched by a critical eye. Whistleblowing is of vital importance when it comes to directly protecting your company from wrongdoing, including fraud and misconduct. If you are an Apple employee and shareholder, you can ensure that your shares remain valuable by blowing the whistle.
- 4. 32 countries have dedicated whistleblower protection laws and many more countries have partial legal protections.
Let's Talk
If there is a way in which you feel you can contribute to ending Apple censorship, which is not already listed here, please don’t hesitate to contact us.