December 2017

In November, the non-profit watchdog Freedom House called China “the worst abuser of Internet freedom” of the 65 countries it surveyed. And yet, on December 3, Apple CEO Tim Cook keynoted China’s annual World Internet Conference. “The theme of this conference—developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits—is a vision we at Apple share,” Cook said—this not long after the California company, under pressure from Beijing, removed from their app store in China all Virtual Private Network, or VPN, products that allow iPhone users inside the country to leap the Great Firewall in an end-run around Internet censorship. Why do CEOs such as Cook, and Google’s Sundar Pichai, attend these types of events? What is the impact of their participation in and statements at these events likely to be? How much influence do these large companies have over China’s Internet regulation and what do they stand to gain or lose by publicly supporting Internet freedom?