Apple removes WhatsApp and Telegram from its app store in China

Apple removes WhatsApp and Telegram from its app store in China

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Apple has just removed WhatsApp and Telegram from the App Store across China. The company explained in a statement sent by email that the Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of the apps.

The company did not provide many details about the removal of WhatsApp and Telegram from its app store. In fact, in addition Indonesia WhatsApp Number List to the two instant messaging apps, Apple also removed Threads and Signal from the App Store in China. What is curious is that Signal does respond to the similarities with the two instant messaging apps that were removed, while Threads is the copy of X, a social network that continues to operate in the App Store in China.



They explained that the Cyberspace Administration of China, the entity in charge of regulating the digital world, gave the order for the removal due to alleged national security risks. “The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these applications from the China store based on its national security concerns,” reads the statement.

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The bitten apple did not provide further details about this decision that affects Chinese citizens. The truth is that this responds WhatsApp Number Database to the geopolitical tension that exists between the United States and China. It is worth remembering that the country led by Joe Biden is seeking to ban TikTok in the country also alleging national security risks. In that case, the American country explained that the data collection policies of ByteDance, parent company , pose a risk to the country's security.



Although neither Meta, nor Apple, nor the companies behind the affected apps responded to questions from our Reuters colleagues about the removal of instant messaging and social media apps in China, we could assume that the order was taken based on the same security risks. "We are obliged to follow the laws of the countries where we operate, even when we do not agree," Apple explained in the statement. However, none of the four applications removed from the App Store are widely used in China. In the Asian country, WeChat predominates as the application for everything.