Apple has removed Meta's WhatsApp and Threads from China's App Store following an order from China's internet regulator, US media reported on Friday.
Mainland China has the most extensive internet censorship in the world, with web users unable to access everything from Google to many foreign apps without workarounds such as virtual private networks (VPNs).
“We are obligated to abide by the laws of the countries in which we operate, even if we disagree,” Apple said in a statement, according to Bloomberg.
“The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has ordered these apps to be removed from Chinese store shelves based on national security concerns,” it added, referring to China's internet regulator.
“These apps will continue to be available for download on all other storefronts where they appear.”
A Meta spokesperson contacted AFP with Apple, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When tested by AFP in China, the App Store did not show search results for WhatsApp or Threads.
Encrypted messaging apps Telegram and Signal were also unavailable, and Bloomberg reported, citing consultants, that they had been removed.
AFP has contacted Signal and Telegram for comment.
The CAC and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's other top regulator, did not immediately react.
troublesome problem
China is an important market for Apple, which took the top spot in the country's smartphone market for the first time last year.
But thorny issues of censorship and national security have long dogged American tech giants' operations in China and the fierce competition between China and the United States for technological supremacy.
In January, China announced that it had cracked Apple's encrypted file transfer service AirDrop. The service previously provided an important channel for information sharing for protesters during the 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.
State-backed experts say they have devised a way to uncover encrypted iPhone device logs and identify AirDrop users' phone numbers and email accounts.
Many platforms that are popular in many parts of the world are blocked in mainland China, including Google, Facebook, X, WhatsApp, and TikTok.
However, savvy Chinese iPhone users have been able to circumvent the restrictions by downloading banned apps and using them over a VPN.
Removing WhatsApp and Threads from the Chinese App Store will make it extremely difficult for new iPhone users to access the apps.
Their dismissals come a day before the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill that includes a provision that would force TikTok to sever all ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing national security concerns.
Beijing has frequently criticized U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology, claiming they are a pretext to curb the country's economic rise.
