Apple Pulls WhatsApp, Others from China App Store per Govt. Directive

Apple on Friday removed WhatsApp, Threads, Telegram, and Signal from its App Store in China, per orders from the country’s government — reports The Wall Street Journal.

“We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,” Apple said in an email statement. “The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns. These apps remain available for download on all other storefronts where they appear.”

The Cyberspace Administration of China directed Apple to pull WhatsApp and other online messaging apps from its Chinese storefront over concerns that they contain political content, including problematic mentions of the Chinese president, said one source. However, the Apple spokesperson denied that being part of the reasoning.

The move comes amidst concerns of rising censorship in the world’s second-largest economy. As of late, China has been cracking down on and tightening regulations around foreign businesses and apps, especially those outside the Chinese government’s influence.

While Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads apps are widely used across the globe, that is far from the case in China where both (alongside many other foreign apps) are blocked by the “Great Firewall” – the country’s massive internet regulation framework. In the Chinese market, WhatsApp, Threads, Telegram, and Signal are all dwarfed by local tech giant Tencent’s WeChat.

This is far from the first time Apple has removed apps from its Chinese storefront to comply with government demands. Back in 2017, Apple pulled The New York Times app, citing violations of local regulations. In 2020, two RSS feed reader apps were evicted from the Chinese App Store for containing “illegal” content.