China Orders Apple to Remove Popular Messaging Apps

WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram among apps cut from iPhone app store to comply with censorship demandChina ordered

China ordered Apple to remove some of the world’s most popular chat messaging apps from its app store in the country, the latest example of censorship demands on the iPhone seller in the company’s second-biggest market.

WhatsApp and Threads as well as messaging platforms Signal and Telegram were taken off the Chinese App Store Friday. Apple said it was told to remove certain apps because of national security concerns, without specifying which.

These messaging apps, which allow users to exchange messages and share files individually and in large groups, combined have around three billion users globally. They can only be accessed in China through virtual private networks that take users outside China’s Great Firewall, but are still commonly used.

Beijing has often viewed such platforms with caution, concerned that these apps could be used by its citizens to spread negative content and cause social unrest. Much of the news China censors at home often makes it beyond the Great Firewall through such channels.

The Cyberspace Administration of China asked Apple to remove WhatsApp and Threads from the App Store because both contain political content that includes problematic mentions of the Chinese president, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Apple spokesperson said that wasn’t part of the reasoning.

The move shrinks the number of foreign chat apps Chinese internet users can use to commun…  icate with those outside of the country, a further tightening of internet controls by Beijing, which is sensitive to uncensored information circulating.

Tech tensions between the U.S. and China are already running high. Congress is fast-tracking a bipartisan effort to crack down on TikTok that could lead to passage of a law this month forcing its Chinese parent to sell the popular video-sharing app in the U.S. or face a ban.

Collectively, Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp have been downloaded from Apple’s app store more than 170 million times in China over the past decade, according to estimates by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Apps such as X were key to disseminating information and videos of protests against Covid rules in China that erupted in late 2022.