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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.

[–] istanbullu@lemmy.ml 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You can at least modify Android to get rid of crap. You can't do that with Apple.

[–] simplejack@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yup. If you want more customization flexibility, Android is the way to go.

That said, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking the CCP isn’t also aggressively trying to censor and monitor communication options for Android phones. Apple is only 15% to 20% of new phone sales in China. Android is the priority for the CCP.

And simply loading up your favorite private VPN and downloading an APK is not the same in China as it in the western world.

Chinese VPNs are monitored by state regulators, non Chinese VPNs can get thrown behind the great firewall, western sites that post their own APKs for direct download get firewalled, etc.

[–] istanbullu@lemmy.ml 0 points 7 months ago

Andoid is the priority for everyone with a brain :) Apple's walled gardens are harmful for everyone who is not apple.

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