Apple has removed several widely used communications platforms from its app store in China at the request of the Chinese government.

Apple has complied with the Chinese government’s request to remove several popular communication apps from its app store, including WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram, due to national security concerns. This action was taken following a directive from the Cyberspace Administration of China. These apps have been crucial for political dissidents globally, especially in China where political expression is heavily regulated. Despite previous reliance on VPNs to access these platforms, they are now unavailable for download in China through the official app store. This move by Apple comes amidst increasing tensions between the U.S. and China in the realm of consumer technology, with discussions in the U.S. Senate about the future of TikTok, a popular social media app owned by a Chinese parent company

  • lemmyreaderEnglish
    3•2 months ago

    Thanks.

    In other words: “You want to block Briar? Go ahead and try.”

    Nice.

    • @[email protected]English
      1•2 months ago

      You can, just block Tor; Block all ISPs from serving install files for briar. Get it removed from the app stores.

      • @[email protected]English
        0•2 months ago

        “Just block Tor” lol. Even China could not do it fully, good luck. There was even a new type of bridge released recently so chances are slimmer.

        • @[email protected]English
          2•2 months ago

          It’s not about perfection, just keeping friction high enough that it doesn’t become a threat.

          As a thought experiment how many Tor users are in north korea?

          • @[email protected]English
            1•2 months ago

            NK has not only a software “firewall”, but control over hardware and more physical control as well. So barely an example and def not applicable to a big country.

            And also - wonder how high Tor usage friction is in China? Where I live, just obfs4 works and they’re fairly easy to get. Doesn’t China just need a different type of bridges?

            • @[email protected]English
              1•2 months ago

              VPNs are pretty common in China, and on top of the VPN you can run Tor no worries. Most of the VPNs get throttled to unusability eventually.

              I don’t think the goal is to stop every VPN, but cause enough friction that most people don’t use it, and get enough signal intelligence so you know who does - if you should ever need to take more direct action.

              The same for banning Signal from the app store, I don’t think signal ever worked directly in China, you would have to use the bridges they have, which was already a PITA.

              • @[email protected]English
                1•2 months ago

                It is pretty much same here - everyone uses VPNs anyway. So a lot of friction was removed when “they” blocked the big social media, after which people sighed and downloaded whatever sketchy VPNs just to keep the entertainment they are used to.