FACT CHECK: No, China Has Not Banned All iPhones
A post shared on Instagram claims China has passed a law to ban all iPhones.
View this post on Instagram
Verdict: False
The claim is inaccurate. iPhones have been banned for government officials only.
Fact Check:
Chinese hackers have obtained 60,000 emails from unclassified inboxes of 10 State Department employees, according to Politico. The hack had first occurred in July, but its scope was not revealed until this week, according to The New York Times.
The Instagram post purports China has banned all iPhones. The post shows an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping and various iPhones.
“China passes new law and bans all iPhones,” text on the image reads.
This claim is inaccurate, however. There are no credible news reports about the alleged ban. However, China has ordered that government officials not bring iPhones into the office or to use them for work, according to CNBC. The second slide of the Instagram post, which can be easily missed, shows a video stating that the ban affects only government officials.
iPhones are still available for purchase on China’s Apple website. (RELATED: Did Hunter Biden Take Money From China?)
Check Your Fact has reached out to Apple and the Chinese embassy in the U.S. for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received from either source.
This is not the first time misinformation involving China has gone viral. Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim that Chinese warships sunk a U.S. Coast Guard ship in the South China Sea.