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The technology giant Apple said this Friday, April 19, 2024, it had removed WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China by order of Xi Jinping's government, which cited national security concerns. Other applications are added to the list. We tell them.
Neither WhatsApp, nor Threads, nor Telegram, nor Signal, among other foreign applications, are now available in the Apple App Store in China, according to the technology giant, which argued its decision in an Executive order.
Although Beijing has not specified the nature of its concerns, the removal of the four apps comes amid rising tensions between the United States and China over trade, technology and national security.
It also suggests growing intolerance by China's central government toward some foreign online messaging services, just as the State House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill restricting the use of TikTok, owned by Chinese group ByteDance, alleging also national security reasons.
The difference in both cases is that TikTok is used by millions of people in the United States, while applications like WhatsApp and Threads are not commonly used in China, where the messaging application WeChat, owned by the local Tencent, reigns.
It is not the first time that Apple removes applications from its store in China. In 2017, it did the same with the 'The New York Times' news application for alleged violation of local regulations. To this day it remains unavailable.
Last year, Apple pulled a series of apps similar to ChatGPT as Beijing worked on local regulations on generative artificial intelligence (AI) services.
Other applications such as Facebook, Instagram and Messenger are still available for download, according to the Reuters agency. Many other popular apps developed by Western companies were also available, such as YouTube (from Alphabet) and X, owned by Elon Musk.
With Reuters and AP
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