Apple removes WhatsApp, Telegram, Threads applications from App Store in China

The American Apple company removed the WhatsApp messenger and Threads social network, as well as the Telegram and Signal messengers, belonging to the Meta Platforms company, from its App Store online store in this country at the request of the Chinese authorities. In fact, those applications can no longer be downloaded from the territory of China, reports the Wall Street Journal.

"Meta Platforms' WhatsApp and Threads, as well as messaging platforms Signal, Telegram and Line, were removed from the Chinese App Store on Friday. "Apple said that the authorities ordered the removal of some applications for national security reasons," the source writes.

"We are obliged to observe the laws of the countries where we work, even if we don't agree with them," the newspaper quoted an Apple representative as saying.

Analytics firm Sensor Tower estimates that Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp have been downloaded more than 170 million times in China over the past decade from Apple's app store.