Apple ordered to pull Meta’s WhatsApp, Threads from China App Store
ymgerman
As the U.S. considers banning Chinese-owned TikTok, Beijing has ordered Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to remove Meta’s (NASDAQ:META) social media apps WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in the country.
Messaging apps Telegram and Signal were also removed from Apple’s (AAPL) App Store. “The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on national security concerns,” the iPhone maker said. “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”
Chinese users with iCloud accounts in other countries can still download the apps from Apple’s (AAPL) App Stores there. Other Meta (META) apps Facebook, Instagram and Messenger are still available for download, as well as Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) YouTube and social media app X.
The app removal order is likely part of a 2023 rule that required all apps available in China to register with the government by the end of March this year or cease operating.
It also comes at a time when U.S. lawmakers are stepping up efforts to ban TikTok unless it is divested from its Chinese parent firm ByteDance (BDNCE), also on account of national security concerns.
To note, Beijing has long regulated foreign internet platforms and censor online content through what the industry calls the Great Firewall.
These efforts have helped Chinese apps such as Tencent’s (OTCPK:TCEHY) WeChat and Weibo dominate the market. Chinese users still use virtual private networks to circumvent the internet block and access foreign media.
