DeSantis Slams Apple For Aiding Chinese Regime, Threatening Twitter App's Presence On The App Store

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, called out Apple for aiding and abetting the Chinese tyrannical regime in its crackdown on ongoing anti-government protests in the East Asian nation. Citizens have been protesting against the brutal coronavirus restriction imposed across the country by President Xi Jinping.

Apple, in its latest software update iOS 16.1.1, in China, disabled its AirDrop peer-to-peer communication feautre in iPhones. The device owners in China could receive files, images, and videos from other non-contacts for 10 minutes. Once that 10-minute window lapses, AirDrop shifts back to contacts only automatically. Protesters have been using this to organize and evade Chinese government's stringent censorship regime.

"If you look what's going on in China now, the CCP have been imposing these Zero-COVID lockdown policies. They've been doing it on and off for three years," DeSantis told reporters Tuesday. "And you have people in China that are really engaged in a noble effort to protest what is basically Leninist rule. So they are serving basically as a vassal to the Chinese Communist Party. Then on the other hand, here in the United States, what are they doing? They are trying to get Elon Musk's Twitter off the App Store potentially, which would be a huge blow for free speech."

The governor was referencing recent revelations by Elon Musk that Apple is threatening to remove the Twitter app from the App Store over content moderation policy. He the Smartphone giant essentially has more authority than some entire governments, and are using their prowess to protect the Xi regime while limiting free speech stateside.

DeSantis also responded to Disney's rehiring of former CEO Bob Iger as its new executive, replacing Bob Chapek who sparred politically with the Florida State government over its ant-woke legislation. Speaking to Fox News' Tucker Carlson, he said Disney "Not only oppose the bill, they threatened to get it repealed. These are parents rights; important policies in our state that are very popular."

"All we did for is stand up for what's right. And yes, they're a big, powerful company," the governor added. "But you know what? We stand up for our folks. And I don't care what a Burbank-based company says about our laws."

WATCH Ron DeSantis remarks about Apple and Chinese regime