Apple’s CEO is embroiled in a battle against the FBI, but he’s still got time to talk about Donald Trump.
Tim Cook has responded to Donald Trump’s calls for supporters to boycott Apple products, arguing that Apple is “a great American company”.
Last month, the US presidential candidate slammed Apple for not creating an encryption backdoor for the FBI to investigate a phone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters.
See the tweets below:
https://twitter.com/statuses/700795170023825408
https://twitter.com/statuses/700796528844103680
Amusingly, the boycott was quickly broken by Trump himself (1,2). But in an interview with TIME published today, Cook was asked whether Trump simply didn’t understand the arguments Apple was making.
“I haven’t talked to him so I don’t know what he thinks,” Cook told TIME.
“The way I look at it is, Apple is this great American company that could have only happened here,” the Apple CEO continues. “And we see it as our responsibility to stand up on something like this and speak up for all these people that are thinking what we’re thinking but don’t have the voice.”
Apple has remained staunchly opposed to the FBI’s requests for a backdoor into the iPhone.
The company cites consumer privacy as the main reason, with Cook arguing that there’s no such thing as a backdoor for “good guys only”.
US Repulican presidential candidate and businessman Donald Trump
Related: Apple vs the FBI
“We don’t see it as our role as the decision maker,” says Cook. “But we [see] it as our role not to just let it happen. I mean too many times in history has this happened, where the government over reached, did something that in retrospect somebody should have stood up and said ‘Stop’.”
“We see that this is our moment to stand up and say ‘Stop’,” explains Cook, “and force a dialogue. And that dialogue may, I don’t know how it’ll go. I’m optimistic.”
Cook adds: “But I don’t know at the end of the day. But I see that as our role.”
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Do you think Apple is right to stave off the FBI’s demands? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
