China orders Apple to remove Meta apps after “inflammatory” posts about president
arstechnica.com
WhatsApp, Threads, Telegram, and Signal removed from Apple App Store in China.

Apple said it complied with orders from the Chinese government to remove the Meta-owned WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China. Apple also removed Telegram and Signal from China.

The New York Times similarly wrote that “a person briefed on the situation said the Chinese government had found content on WhatsApp and Threads about China’s president, Xi Jinping, that was inflammatory and violated the country’s cybersecurity laws. The specifics of what was in the content was unclear, the person said.”

“These apps and many foreign apps are normally blocked on Chinese networks by the ‘Great Firewall’—the country’s extensive cybersystem of censorship—and can only be used with a virtual private network or other proxy tools,” Reuters wrote.

“For years, Apple has bowed to Beijing’s demands that it block an array of apps, including newspapers, VPNs, and encrypted messaging services,” The New York Times noted yesterday.

  • capitalEnglish
    103•8 months ago

    This just in - companies that want to continue doing business in country must follow country’s laws. More at 10.

      • JinEnglish
        35•8 months ago

        While also having TikTok banned in China 😂

      • @[email protected]English
        1•8 months ago

        If the US bans Tiktok, expect China to retalliate against Apple. China is Apple’s most important market.

        • @[email protected]English
          2•8 months ago

          …they enjoy the profits from making Apple products and they do have a legal system over there, so your suggestions is dubious at best.

          I don’t think they’d actually respond. Also TikTok is only partially Chinese owned.

          That said the US would probably have to make a strong case TikTok is being used to convey Chinese propaganda in a way that’s irrevocable or uncontrollable.

    • @[email protected]English
      34•8 months ago

      If only the phone operating system allowed you to load applications from somewhere other than the official app store. Someone should make a phone that does that.

      • JesusEnglish
        5•8 months ago

        Yes, but play that tape forward as someone living in China. Lets pretend you wanted to use Signal

        • you can’t download Signal’s APK directly from their site. It’s behind the great firewall
        • you can’t VPN to their site or services via popular local VPN services. Chinese VPNs are regulated and monitored by the state.
        • western VPN services get thrown behind the great firewall and or obscured from search because the government censors Baidu.

        Etc etc.

        There a ways to pull it off, but China does not make it easy. Android is over 80% of phone sales in China. Censoring comms on Android is the state’s priority.