Apple doing China’s bidding
‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’ will not come back to Apple TV+ for a third season, bringing a surprise and sudden end to the increasingly popular show led by the former Daily Show host. …
He told staff that the company had concerns about the subject matter Stewart planned for three shows during the upcoming season. Those topics included China, Israel and artificial intelligence.
(CNN, October 20, 2023)
Trust me, with China on the table, blaming this cancellation on Israel and AI is like eating Big Macs, and then blaming the weight gained on the Coke and fries.
No, this is just the latest example of China executing extraterritorial censorship. It presumes the right to bully any company doing business in China to comport themselves according to its propaganda even back home.
Entities, from the WTA to the NBA, can attest to this pressure. However, too many Western corporations have been willing to check their mottos and values at the border to access China’s market.
I have decried this venal phenomenon in commentaries like “Trump and NBA Find Doing Business in China Like Walking on Eggshells” on October 15, 2019, and “Apple Is the Apple of China’s Eye on Its Citizens” on May 24, 2021.
Politics: No laughing matter
The irony, of course, is that Stewart gained fame and fortune by making fun of politics and politicians. But, given Apple’s history of kowtowing to China, he should have known his goose was cooked.
I mean, China got movie star John Cena to issue a groveling apology, in Chinese no less. And all he did was state the generally recognized fact that Taiwan is a country.
Here comes Stewart pitching a series on Apple TV, highlighting facts about the snowflake authoritarian state China has become. Imagine the wrath that would trigger.
The problem with Jon Stewart? He keeps trying to recapture that Daily Show magic – not to get laughs but to influence politics. Instead, he should give up TV and run for political office.
But this episode reinforces my clarion call for all Western countries to decouple their economies from dependence on access to China’s.