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Apple Removes WhatsApp, Threads, Telegram, and Signal from China App Store, says it complied with orders from the Chinese government (arstechnica.com)

submitted 7 months ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Apple said it complied with orders from the Chinese government to remove the Meta-owned WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China. Apple also removed Telegram and Signal from China.

The New York Times similarly wrote that "a person briefed on the situation said the Chinese government had found content on WhatsApp and Threads about China's president, Xi Jinping, that was inflammatory and violated the country's cybersecurity laws. The specifics of what was in the content was unclear, the person said."

"These apps and many foreign apps are normally blocked on Chinese networks by the 'Great Firewall'—the country's extensive cybersystem of censorship—and can only be used with a virtual private network or other proxy tools," Reuters wrote.

"For years, Apple has bowed to Beijing's demands that it block an array of apps, including newspapers, VPNs, and encrypted messaging services," The New York Times noted yesterday.

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[–] harsh3466@lemmy.ml 123 points 7 months ago (15 children)

Privacy. That’s iPhone.

Unless the government says otherwise. Because really we don’t give a fuck about you or your privacy.

[–] simplejack@lemmy.world 34 points 7 months ago (7 children)

Honestly, life on Android isn’t going to be much better.

The great firewall blocks Meta, Google, Signal, and Telegram’s sides. So no play store downloads, and no direct APK downloads.

Chinese users on iOS and Android basically have to pirate an IPA or APK, sideload, hope that shit wasn’t compromised by the state, and VPN out of the country.

[–] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 57 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yea but at least with android you can download and install apks and find a way around stuff. Apple has their stuff locked down and they make it difficult to do that sort of stuff.

[–] simplejack@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

True. That stuff can hamper curb peer to peer distribution, which Chinese citizens have been know to do, since it can bypass ISPs.

That said, if you’re pirating stuff in China and fucking with VPNs already, you’re probably tech literate enough to side load an IPA. It’s not too hard to do without jailbreaking these days.

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