Josh Yeh and Mrinmay Dey
(Reuters) – Apple said on Friday it had removed Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:)’ WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in China after the Chinese government ordered it to do so, citing national security concerns.
Other meta apps, including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, remained available, according to Reuters checks on Friday morning. Many other popular apps developed by Western companies, including YouTube and X, were also available for download.
It was not immediately clear how WhatsApp or Threads might have caused security concerns for Chinese authorities.
“The Cyberspace Administration of China has ordered the removal of these apps from the Chinese store based on national security concerns,” Apple (NASDAQ:) said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
“We are required to comply with the laws of the countries in which we operate, even if we disagree with them,” the statement said.
Meta declined to comment and referred queries to Apple.
China’s Cyberspace Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The iPhone maker said WhatsApp and Threads are still available for download on its other stores. Tech-savvy Chinese consumers can download apps from Apple’s app stores in other countries as long as they have an iCloud account there.
Some experts in the Chinese tech industry said the government order for WhatsApp and Threads may be related to a new rule passed last August that requires all apps available in China to register with the government or risk being removed.
The deadline for companies to complete registration was the end of March, and the rules came into force on April 1.
Apple has already removed apps from its Chinese app store.
In 2017, Apple removed The New York Times news app, saying it violated local rules, a move that came amid growing censorship of news in the world’s second-largest economy. It is still not available in Apple’s Chinese app store.
Last year, Apple removed a number of apps similar to ChatGPT as Beijing worked on local regulations on generative artificial intelligence (AI) services.
The removal of WhatsApp and Threads from the Chinese App Store was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.