Apple shows its position on the annexation of Crimea to Russia on its maps
A company spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday that the company "is closely monitoring how we deal with the disputed borders," after referring to the Crimea, which Russia annexed as part of Russia in the applications of maps and weather for Russian users.
Apple's spokeswoman, Trudy Muller, told Reuters that Apple had not made any changes to its maps outside Russia and made the change for Russian users because of a new law that came into effect in the country.
“We review international law as well as relevant US and other domestic laws before deciding on marking our maps and making changes if required by law,” Mueller said. "We take a deeper look at how we deal with disputed boundaries in our services and we may make changes in the future as a result."
Both Russia and Ukraine were highly sensitive to the way international corporations identified Crimea, where Russian forces seized the territory and were annexed by Moscow in March 2014 after a referendum; Kiev and its Western allies said it was illegal.
It seems that Apple has changed the way it displays sites in Crimea in its software, a reference to Russian politicians who demanded to refer to the peninsula as part of Russia.
Reuters correspondents in Moscow wrote the name of the capital of the Crimean region Simferopol in Apple's maps and weather applications on Wednesday. Users elsewhere - including the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and the Crimea itself - can view sites in Crimea displayed without specifying which country they belong to.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Vadim Beltico, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday: "Apple did not pay attention to the feelings of the country."
The EU and the United States do not recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia and have imposed sanctions on the peninsula and individuals it accuses of violating Ukraine's territorial integrity.
0 Comments