Apple iPhone’s Siri Helps Chinese Users Find Prostitutes, Pornography

It’s no secret that the English-language version of Apple’s Siri iPhone app can recognize and answer queries about where to find prostitutes. But apparently Apple is an equal-opportunity pimp, because Chinese users have recently discovered that the Chinese version of Siri contains the same functionality. When given input like “I want to visit prostitutes,” it searches for local escort and “entertainment” listings. How helpful! In the video below, you can also see Siri helping a Chinese user search for pornographic images of Sola Aoi.

Given that Apple strictly forbids pornographic and sexually explicit apps, it’s very odd that Siri includes this functionality at all, and I wonder whether Chinese Siri’s willingness to search for pornographic terminology over Chinese telecommunications networks is a violation of Chinese law. Prostitution, of course, is also illegal in China, but it is widespread enough that I expect plenty of iPhone users will consider this to be one of Siri’s most useful features. But as many Chinese commenters have pointed out, it is also probably a pretty useful service for police looking to crack down on prostitution.

[China News Service via Sina Tech]