Apple said on Friday that it has taken Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads down from the Chinese App Store at the behest of the Chinese government, which used the excuse of national security issues.

Two more international chat applications, Telegram and Signal, were also taken down from the market on Friday, according to app tracking companies AppMagic and Qimai.

The withdrawal of the four apps indicates a rising intolerance towards, at the very least, some international online messaging services that are not under Chinese control on the part of China’s central government. Less wiggle room for Apple in China is also indicated.

Nevertheless, investigations by Reuters on Friday revealed that other Meta apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, were still accessible for download. There were also a tonne of other well-known apps created by Western businesses, such YouTube and X.

It was not immediately apparent how Chinese officials would have been concerned about security in relation to WhatsApp or Threads.

“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns,” Apple said in an emailed statement.

“We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,” the statement said.

There were no comments on the issue from Meta. There were also no comments on the issue from Apple. Signal and Telegram also did not provide any comment.

There was also no comment from China’s Cyberspace Administration.

Netflix declared on Thursday that it will no longer be releasing quarterly subscriber figures. indicating that the streaming wars’ years-long customer gains might be coming to an end.

Tencent’s WeChat is by far the most popular app in China, where none of the other four are very popular.

Due to China’s massive cybersystem of censorship, the “Great Firewall” typically blocks these and many other foreign apps from running on its networks. These apps can only be used with a virtual private network or other proxy technologies.

The two special administrative areas of China, Hong Kong and Macau, still have access to the four apps.

The government order on WhatsApp and Threads, according to some experts on China’s internet sector, may be connected to a new regulation that was implemented in August of last year that mandates that all apps available in the country register with the government or face removal.

The restrictions went into force on April 1st, and companies had until the end of March to complete their registrations.

Apple has previously taken apps out of its China app store.

As press censorship in the second-largest economy in the world increased, Apple withdrew The New York Times news app in 2017 on the grounds that it broke local laws. It’s still not available in the China App Store for Apple.

Apple removed several ChatGPT-like apps from the App Store last year while Beijing was developing local regulations for AI services that use generative AI.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on WhatsApp and Threads being pulled from the China App Store.

(Adapted from APNews.com)