Concessions to Beijing. Apple cleared the Chinese App Store of Western applications at the request of the authorities
April 19, 17:25 Share:
Chinese authorities tighten ban on Meta apps (Photo: Apple)
China has persuaded Apple to remove some of the world's most popular messaging apps from its app store in the country.
Apple said it was ordered to remove certain apps for national security reasons, without specifying which apps it was referring to.. According to the WSJ, Meta's WhatsApp and Threads, as well as messaging platforms Signal, Telegram and Line, were removed from the Chinese App Store on Friday. CNN confirms that Apple has removed WhatsApp and Threads, and reports that other popular Western social networking apps, including X ( formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, still available in the Chinese Apple App Store. Meta-owned apps had already been blocked in China before and were not widely used. They can only be accessed in the country using a VPN.
“We are required to comply with the laws in the countries where we operate, even if we disagree. The Cyberspace Administration of China has ordered the removal of these apps from storefronts in China based on national security concerns.. These apps remain available for download on all other storefronts where they are available,” an Apple spokesperson said.
The tech giant's announcement of concessions to Chinese government demands comes as iPhone sales plummet.. As NV wrote, the company's performance fell by 10% in the first quarter of this year, primarily due to falling sales in China.
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