China orders Apple to remove Threads and WhatsApp from the China app store.

 Two more foreign chat applications, Telegram and Signal, were also taken down from the store on Friday.

BEIJING: Apple announced on Friday that it has taken Meta Platforms' WhatsApp and Threads down from the Chinese App Store at the behest of the Chinese government, which used the excuse of national security concerns.

Two more international chat applications, Telegram and Signal, were also taken down from the market on Friday, according to app tracking companies AppMagic and Qimai.

The withdrawal of the four apps indicates a rising intolerance against, at the very least, some international online messaging services that are not under Chinese control on the part of China's central government. Less wiggle room for Apple in China is also indicated.

Nevertheless, investigations by Reuters on Friday revealed that other Meta apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, were still accessible for download. There were also a ton of other well-known apps created by Western businesses, such YouTube and X.

It was not immediately apparent how Chinese officials would have been concerned about security in relation to WhatsApp or Threads.

"The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns," Apple stated in a statement sent via email.

"We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree," the statement continued.

Requests for comments on Signal and Telegram were not answered by Apple. Requests for response from representatives of the two companies were not immediately answered.
A request for comment was also not quickly answered by China's Cyberspace Administration.

Tencent's WeChat is the most popular service in China, where none of the four apps are very popular.

Apple was contacted by Meta after they declined to comment.

 

Due to China's massive cybersystem of censorship, the "Great Firewall" typically blocks these and many other foreign apps from running on its networks. These apps can only be used with a virtual private network or other proxy technologies.

The two special administrative areas of China, Hong Kong and Macau, still have access to the four apps.

The government order on WhatsApp and Threads, according to some experts on China's internet sector, may be connected to a new regulation that was implemented in August of last year that mandates that all apps available in the country register with the government or face removal.

The restrictions went into force on April 1st, and companies had until the end of March to complete their registrations.

Apple has previously taken apps out of its China app store.

As press censorship in the second-largest economy in the world increased, Apple withdrew The New York Times news app in 2017 on the grounds that it broke local laws. It's still not available in the China App Store for Apple.

Apple removed several ChatGPT-like apps from the App Store last year while Beijing was developing local regulations for AI services that use generative AI.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on WhatsApp and Threads being pulled from the China App Store.