CCP Orders Apple to Pull WhatsApp, Threads From China App Store

The order came as U.S. Congress may soon pass a measure to force TikTok’s divestment from China.

Logos of Facebook, Instagram, and mobile messaging service WhatsApp on the screens of a smartphone and a tablet in Toulouse, southwestern France, on Oct. 5, 2020. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

Apple has confirmed that it has removed Meta-owned applications WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China after being ordered to do so by the country’s top internet regulator.

The tech giant told Reuters in a statement on April 19 that the Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of the apps due to unspecified “national security” reasons.