All the news that's fit to split: China demands Apple pulls the New York Times app from the App Store

Last month, Chinese authorities demanded that Apple pull both the English language and Chinese language versions of the New York Times app from the country's App Store. Apple complied with the request on December 23rd. Regulations inside China are designed to prevent citizens there from learning about events taking place outside the country. These regulations are also the reason why social media apps like Facebook and Twitter have been blocked, as has email app Gmail.

There is a political reason for China's decision to block the New York Times. After all, apps from other publications that ...