The iPhone maker said that China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration, ordered the removal of WhatsApp and Threads from its app store because of national security concerns. Apple said that it complied because “we are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.” A Meta spokesperson directed requests for comment to Apple. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported Apple’s removal of the apps. 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. An Apple spokesperson denied that the Chinese government ordered the apps removed because of content on WhatsApp and Thread about Xi that was inflammatory.
Several other global messaging apps had also been removed from Apple’s App Store in China on Friday, including Signal, which is based in the US, and Telegram, which is based in Dubai, UAE, according to Appfigures, a market research firm that analyses the digital economy.
