The solution to this is simple - Clear Phone.
I'm working with a bunch of people who kept telling me Apple is evil, and I always disagreed and obviously have lots of Apple devices, but now... I have to say, "ok, yes, they've turned over to the dark side now, I can't deny it."
Clear Phone is my next phone.
It's based on Android with Google services removed, it has its own app store which is decentralized and censorship proof, it encrypts everything and protects your privacy, and it's a high end phone.
Will it be as good as iOS - no it won't but other considerations are more important now.
Sad but... it's a good time to leave, with iPhone 12/13 the ugliest ever iPhones, with the 5G BS, with the mask insanity at Apple stores. And Apple getting into "health" which likely means they'll join the ranks with Microsoft and Google in order to keep people sick and on subscription medicines for life. "You need our devices to be healthy" - no thanks.
If you think it's an exaggeration - not from my vantage point, it unfolds like a slow motion train wreck. It's exactly where this is going.
This CSAM scanning business puts Apple in a position where it can't say no.
If they say they will "deny any such request from governments" I almost laughed out loud.
That's a straight faced lie.
Apple can't afford to deny a request from the Chinese government! It's impossible; China has all the power and apple has none. In the USA, it also can't deny a request from government - not over the long run, although in the USA they can still engage the courts; but that won't last long. Ultimately, everything that is controlled by Apple is also controlled by the Chinese, Indian, Russian, and US governments.
Apple has already removed many apps from the app store on request from China. Because the CCCP didn't like those apps. Because these apps were used by freedom fighters, excuse me, domestic terrorists of course.