Lawmakers query Apple over cancellation of Jon Stewart’s present

A gaggle of lawmakers from a Home of Representatives committee needs Apple, like many Jon Stewart fanatics, to clarify why its streaming arm abruptly canceled the discuss present The Downside With Jon Stewart. The present affairs TV collection hosted by Jon Stewart briefly made its debut on Apple TV+ in 2021 however its time on air ended when the present obtained the ax for a 3rd season, reportedly because of “disagreements” over present subjects.

In response to Reuters, Lawmakers wish to know if the present’s protection and criticism of China has something to do with the present’s cancellation. The federal government officers have requested Apple to talk on the problem by December 15.

In a letter to the corporate, the Home members wrote that whereas Apple has the fitting to find out what content material it deems acceptable for its platform, “the coercive ways of a international energy shouldn’t be immediately or not directly influencing these determinations.” This effort is bipartisan, with members from each Republican and Democratic events affiliated with the Home of Representatives’ Choose Committee on Competitors with the Chinese language Communist Get together.

Roughly 19 p.c of Apple gross sales come from China, with over $72.5 billion in internet gross sales reported for the corporate’s fiscal 2023, which closed in September. It would make sense that the corporate would keep away from streaming a present with sturdy political views that might affect its backside line in such a big method. However the present mentioned a number of hot-button subjects, together with synthetic intelligence and gun management. In response to the New York Occasions, sources acquainted with the matter mentioned that, past discussions about China, the present’s criticism of subjects like synthetic intelligence performed a task within the resolution to chop the present.