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China's Cyberspace Administration has ordered Apple to remove a number of different apps including Threads, WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram from its Chinese iOS App Store, effectively banning them in the country. All of the apps were reportedly removed in China on Friday.
“We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,” an Apple spokesperson tells The Wall Street Journal, who first reported the news.
Apple said that the iPhone maker was told to remove the apps because China has "national security concerns." Apple didn't share further details on why exactly China believes the apps pose a threat, however.
One anonymous source familiar with the bans told the WSJ that WhatsApp and Threads were removed because the Meta-owned apps both have user-made posts with "problematic mentions" of China's President Xi Jinping.
China's social media censorship is nothing new, of course. For decades, it's banned many popular messaging apps including Facebook and Twitter, leading some to download VPNs to get around its "Great Firewall." China also has permitted social media apps of its own, like the original version of TikTok called Douyin, Weibo, WeChat, and QQ.
China isn't the only country taking issue with Threads and WhatsApp, however. Russia reportedly blocked Threads in its country last year and has also discussed blocking WhatsApp. Russia has previously alleged that Meta is promoting "terorrist" activities and anti-Russian sentiment by allowing users to post freely about political topics and Russia's invasion of Ukraine on its apps. Russia also fined WhatsApp last year for not removing posts about Lyrica, a nerve pain medication banned in the country.
Russia previously banned Telegram, but lifted the ban in 2020 because its leaders believed Telegram's CEO had taken actions to combat "terrorism and extremism" on the app.
Other countries have tussled with social media platforms, too. Brazil briefly banned WhatsApp in 2015. This month, X/Twitter said it banned 150 accounts on its platform to comply with one Brazilian Supreme Court Justice's orders, resulting in a feud between the judge and X owner Elon Musk.