Apple has faced a significant shareholder rebellion over an effort to force it to say how the company complies with government censors, as it comes under growing pressure over its role in China.

More than four in ten – 40.6pc – of Apple’s shareholder base voted in favour of a proposal asking it to disclose how it responds to government requests that could limit free expression, based on preliminary results from its annual meeting on Wednesday.

While the proposal failed, the revolt is much broader than on previous shareholder proposals on Apple’s human rights record, suggesting the company is coming under increasing pressure from investors.

The pressure group SumOfUs, which had proposed the measure, had accused Apple of “aiding the repression of Uighurs, Tibetans and other rights activists”, and advisory groups ISS and Glass Lewis had recommended shareholders supported the motion.

Many of America’s biggest tech companies have their services banned in China, but Apple sells billions of dollars of products there and has had to delete dozens of apps from its App Store after notices from Beijing.

The Tibetan activist Sonamtso, speaking on behalf of SumOfUs, said that Apple had removed almost all virtual network apps, which allow internet users to avoid having websites blocked, at the request of the Chinese government. She said censorship in the country had contributed to the spread of the coronavirus, which last week forced Apple to issue a revenue warning.