Student Holds Hunger Strike at Apple Headquarters to Protest AirDrop Restriction in China

Han Wang sits near Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., during a hunger strike on Dec. 7, 2022. Ted Lin/NTD

CUPERTINO, Calif.—Graduate student Han Wang started a seven-day hunger strike at Apple headquarters on Dec. 5. He is urging the tech giant to revoke its AirDrop restrictions in mainland China, where “A4 protesters” are counting on the Bluetooth-based technique to evade the communist regime’s censorship.

Axios reported that a Nov. 9 Apple iOS update restricted AirDrop sharing features only in the Chinese market, by setting a fixed 10-minute limit to accept files from everyone.

Wang said this is the reason he is staging a hunger strike.

A sign demanding accountability from Apple during a hunger strike in Cupertino, Calif., on Dec. 7, 2022. David Lam/NTD

“In China, people are only allowed to use AirDrop for 10 minutes—it’s ridiculous. And it only happened after one week of the A4 Revolutions,” he told NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

Following a fire that led to the deaths of at least 10 people in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province, many protesters have been holding blank sheets of A4 paper to protest against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) zero-COVID policy and to call for an end to the CCP’s rule.

Han Wang sits under an umbrella outside Apple’s headquarters on Dec. 10, 2022. David Lam/NTD

Wang said using AirDrop is the only safe way for protesters to communicate with each other, and the new policy greatly limits their ability to communicate safely.

In protest, Wang is camping outside Apple headquarters and living on water for a week. He has been sleeping underneath a banner and using a tent for storage to keep supplies dry.

A banner calls for a response from Apple outside Apple’s headquarters on Dec. 10, 2022. David Lam/NTD

Just after the hunger strike began, tech websites MacRumors, TechCrunch, and 9to5Mac reported on Dec. 7 that Apple is expanding the 10-minute AirDrop limit to all users with iOS 16.2.

However, this move from Apple drew critical comments on these tech-oriented websites. An article on MacRumors covered the Airdrop changes, and a reader commented: “I guess it worked so well for suppression in China, they’re gonna expand it to the world.”

On 9to5Mac, a commenter asked for more user options. Another person commented, “But then they can’t justify their actions in China.”

Protesters support hunger striker Han Wang near Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., on Dec. 10, 2022. Nancy Han/NTD

Apple has stated that the feature is an effort to cut down on spam sent in crowded areas like malls, and it originally planned to roll out the feature globally starting in 2023.

However, Apple has not provided an answer as to why it chose mainland China to be the first country with AirDrop restrictions.

“I think we need a response from [Apple CEO] Tim Cook and Apple,” Wang said.

Apple did not respond to NTD’s request for comment.

NTD’s David Lam contributed to this report.