China’s internet regulator issued the ban based on worries about national security.
It has been reported by both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times that Apple customers in China will no longer be able to locate and download WhatsApp and Threads from the App Store. The business stated that it removed the applications from the store in order to comply with demands that it received from the Cyberspace Administration, which is China’s internet regulator, “based on [its]national security concerns.” The company provided the media with an explanation that it is “obligated to follow the laws in the countries where [it operates], even when [it disagrees]with those laws.”
A large number of non-domestic applications and technologies are blocked in China by the Great Firewall, which forces residents to use a virtual private network (VPN) in order to access any of these applications or technologies. Facebook and Instagram, which are both owned by Meta, are two of such applications; however, WhatsApp and Threads have been accessible for download up until this point. The directive from the Chinese regulator comes just a few minutes before the Senate is scheduled to vote on a bill that has the potential to result in a ban on TikTok in the United States. There is a striking similarity between the logic of the Cyberspace Administration, which is that the apps pose a threat to national security, and the one that American lawmakers use to justify barring TikTok in the country.
The present version of the bill stipulates that ByteDance will have one year to sell off TikTok; failing to do so will result in the short-form video-sharing site being removed from available app stores. The bill, which is a component of a package that also includes assistance to Israel and Ukraine, is anticipated to be approved by the House of Representatives. In an earlier statement, Vice President Joe Biden expressed his support for the package and stated that he will promptly sign the laws into law.