Apple announced on Friday that it had removed Meta Platforms (META.O), WhatsApp, and Threads from its App Store in China after being ordered to do so by the Chinese government, citing national security concerns.
Other Meta Apps
Other Meta apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, were still available, according to Reuters checks on Friday morning.
Many other popular apps created by Western companies, such as YouTube and X, were also available for download.
It was not immediately clear how WhatsApp or Threads could have raised security concerns among Chinese authorities.
China’s Cyberspace Administration
“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns,” Apple said in an emailed statement. “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,” the statement said.
Meta declined to comment, referring inquiries to Apple. China’s Cyberspace Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tech-savvy Chinese
The iPhone maker confirmed that WhatsApp and Threads are still available for download on its other storefronts. Tech-savvy Chinese customers can download the apps from Apple’s App Stores in other countries if they have an iCloud account.
According to some experts in China’s tech industry, the government order on WhatsApp and Threads may be related to a new rule implemented in August that requires all apps available in China to register with the government or face removal.
The deadline for companies to complete registrations was the end of March, and the regulations took effect on April 1. Apple has previously removed apps from its China app store.
In 2017, Apple removed The New York Times news app, claiming it violated local regulations, amid rising news censorship in the world’s second-largest economy. It is still unavailable on Apple’s China App Store.
Last year, Apple removed a number of ChatGPT-like apps as Beijing worked on local regulations for generative artificial intelligence (AI) services. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the removal of WhatsApp and Threads from China’s App Store.
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