#FF00AA

I soon discovered that the Chinese version of the iPhone 4 comes with an aggravating quirk, though: The built-in Maps app is crippled. My phone’s base map is hard-wired to Google Maps’ censored dataset for China, where the depiction of China’s borders complies with the official propaganda of the Chinese government. It does not, for example, show the region of Arunachal Pradesh as being disputed by China and India. On my phone, it belongs to China, even though the facts on the ground belie it — it is currently administered by India.

That’s creepy on so many levels. How the hell does Google — herald of the freedom of information and all that stuff — justify having a version of the Maps database that displays different information than what Google considers true? Censoring data is one thing, and I would be okay with them redacting parts of the map out, but displaying false information?

P.S. Did I actually write that I would “be okay” with Google blacking out parts of Maps to satisfy the Chinese government? I don’t think I actually meant that.