Tech giant Apple announced on Friday that it had taken down Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, complying with an order issued by the Chinese government over national security concerns. This move also affected two other foreign messaging apps, Telegram and Signal, which were removed from the store on the same day, according to app tracking firms Qimai and AppMagic.
The removal of these apps signifies a growing intolerance from China’s central government towards certain foreign online messaging services that operate outside its control. It also indicates a tightening grip on Apple’s operations within China.
Despite the removal of WhatsApp and Threads, other Meta apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger remained accessible for download, as verified by Reuters checks on Friday. Additionally, numerous popular apps developed by Western companies, including YouTube, remained available on the China App Store.
The specific security concerns that led to the removal of WhatsApp and Threads have not been disclosed by Chinese authorities. In response, Apple stated that the Cyberspace Administration of China had ordered the removal of these apps based on national security concerns, emphasizing its obligation to adhere to local laws.
Meta declined to comment on the matter and directed inquiries to Apple, while Apple did not respond to requests for comment regarding Signal and Telegram. Representatives for Signal and Telegram also did not provide immediate responses to queries.
At present, none of the four removed apps are widely utilized in China, where Tencent’s WeChat dominates the messaging service sector. Foreign apps, including WhatsApp and Threads, are typically inaccessible within China due to the country’s stringent internet censorship policies enforced by the “Great Firewall.”
However, these apps remain available in Hong Kong and Macau, China’s special administrative regions. Some experts suggest that the government’s directive regarding WhatsApp and Threads could be linked to a new regulation implemented last August, which mandates all apps available in China to register with the government or risk removal.
Apple has previously removed apps from its China App Store in response to government directives. In 2017, The New York Times news app was removed due to alleged violations of local regulations, amidst increasing news censorship in China. Similarly, last year, Apple removed several ChatGPT-like apps during Beijing’s formulation of local regulations on generative artificial intelligence (AI) services.
