Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday accepted the Anti-Defamation League’s inaugural Courage Against Hate Award at the Never is Now Summit on Anti-Semitism and Hate. Cook also delivered the keynote speech at the event, delivering a strong message for those individuals or groups looking to use Apple’s platform to spread their ignoble message.
“We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division, and violence, Cook said. “You have no place on our platform. You have no home here.”
Cook went on to say that Apple isn’t afraid to let its values drive its curation decisions.
From the earliest days of iTunes to Apple Music today, we have always prohibited music with a message of white supremacy. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.
And as we showed this year, we won’t give a platform to violent conspiracy theorists on the App Store. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.
My friends, if we can’t be clear on moral questions like these, then we’ve got big problems. At Apple, we are not afraid to say that our values drive our curation decisions. And why should we be? Doing what’s right, creating experiences free from violence and hate, experiences that empower creativity and new ideas is what our customers want us to do.
Technology should be about human attention. It should be about optimism. And we believe the future should belong to those who use technology to build a better, more inclusive, and more hopeful world.
After all, history is full of examples of what can happen when those with power, and those who ought to have good judgement, instead look the other way. I believe the most sacred thing that each of us is given is our judgement. Our morality. Our own innate desire to separate right from wrong. Choosing to set that responsibility aside at a moment of trial is a sin. We as individuals have the power to know and feel and act and we ought to use it.
The full text of Cook’s speech is available via the ADL’s livestream of the event.