No more overseas push notifications on iPhones and no more negative Trump meme videos in China.
Two changes right before the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing this week:
Overseas Apple Notifications are Dead:
For years, you could still get push notifications for Twitter or Telegram on your iPhone in China directly. Starting from a few days ago, for users inside China, Apple’s APNs (push notification service) seems to be getting blocked or filtered for apps that's not domestic.
The Great Trump Purge:
In the past few days, there’s been a massive takedown of Trump-related videos on Chinese platforms. Most of the spoof and "negative" meme videos have been banned or hidden (specifically those localized spoofs; original footage and Western media parodies haven't been affected). A very clear signal is being sent right before the summit I guess.
Pretty ironic when you look back at this post from just two months ago: CNN reports China allowing anti-Trump videos and memes to go viral