China is always known for its strict laws on media and censorship. Most popular social media apps are blocked in the country, two of the best examples being Facebook and Instagram. WhatsApp, the sole functioning app by Facebook in China, is reportedly being disrupted by the Chinese government as well.
Multiple WhatsApp users in the country have been complaining about not being able to send photos and videos through, with some even unable to send texts. The world’s most popular messaging app however isn’t very much active among China citizens as most of them have Wechat as their primary messaging app instead.
When the Chinese government previously banned Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp still remained standing, but it appears that the app will soon face some sort of block after this recent disruption.
China’s strict censorship laws result in its users mostly using local version of apps. Besides Wechat being widely used in the country, Weibo is China’s take on Facebook and Twitter, and is hugely popular as well.
Apple also recently complied to local Chinese laws, setting up its first data center in the country to store its users’ data, as part of the enactment of a new law.