Chinese authorities ordered Apple to delete WhatsApp from its App Store due to national security concerns, Reuters reported Friday.
For the same reason, Meta reports that the App Store removed Threads, a more recent text-based social networking app similar to Twitter.
“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns,” Apple told the news agency.
Meta told Eltrys that its two applications are no longer on Apple’s App Store in China, but he didn’t elaborate. “We refer you to Apple for comment,” a Meta spokeswoman said.
At publication time, Apple did not respond to our queries about the deletions.
Reuters reported that Apple’s App Store in China deleted Signal and Telegram, two popular chat applications. This section of the report uses Qimai and AppMagic data.
Apple hasn’t verified these two deletions. However, AppleCensorship reports that Signal and Telegram have “disappeared” from Apple’s mainland China App Store.
Telegram did not react to our request about its iOS app.
Before Reuters’ article, Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker told Eltrys that China’s Great Firewall had banned Signal.
“While Signal may have been available to download in the past, Signal registrations and messages are apparently blocked,” she said, suggesting it doesn’t matter if its app is removed from the App Store since Chinese users can’t register or send messages.
Earlier removals
Apple has disabled applications at China’s internet regulator’s request before. Last summer, Apple removed many generative AI applications from its China App Store before Chinese rules took effect.
Last year, Apple’s China App Store removed Jack Dorsey-backed Damus, another Twitter rival, after receiving approval.
A few years back, Apple banned the audio social networking app Clubhouse from its China store following its worldwide debut. Apple has also banned popular censorship circumvention tools (including VPN applications), RSS apps, podcast apps, and a Quran app in recent years.
It’s unclear why Apple’s Chinese App Store removed WhatsApp and Threads.
One is an E2EE messaging app, and the other is a microblogging social networking app. Signal delivers industry-standard E2EE throughout all of its software, whereas Telegram includes private messaging and one-to-many broadcast capabilities, with proprietary E2EE only accessible for “secret chats.”.
Threads debuted in early July 2018. The Great Firewall of China prevents Chinese users from downloading the software; therefore, they must utilize a VPN. Many did, as Threads swiftly reached the top 5 on Apple’s China App Store last summer.
A popular app may attract China’s official censors, who may compel Apple to delete it from its store to crack down on its use.
In Apple’s China App Store, AppleCensorship also lists Facebook and Instagram, two Meta-owned applications. While Signal and Telegram use is expanding, TC’s Liao noted in 2021 that “China’s censorship decisions can be arbitrary and inconsistent.”
