China a country which probably has more number of restrictions than its population has once again taken a disputed decision by removing the Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps from Apple’s app store. For your information, VPN apps allow users to beach their Internet censorship imposed by the government.
Apparently, this move comes ahead of the Communist party Congress which happens once in every 5 years in the country. Responding to Chinese government’s order, Apple has removed VPN apps like ExpressVPN, Star VPN and VyprVPN from its App Store in China. Citing the reasons for the removal of these apps, Apple said that these apps were not abiding the Chinese government’s criteria of obtaining government license to operate in the country.
Apple stated, “Earlier this year China’s MIIT announced that all developers offering VPNs must obtain a license from the government. We have been required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations. These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business“.
A statement from express VPN stated that, “We’re disappointed in this development, as it represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date, and we are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts.”
Though the VPN apps are removed from China’s App Store, those users, who are accessing different territory’s App Store (i.e., with billing address outside of China) will remain unaffected and will be able to continue with their use of such apps.
Not to mention that, this isn’t the first time that the Chinese government is behaving it’s trueself. In the past, The New York Times app had been sacked out of the Appstore and the government had also partially-blocked popular messaging app WhatsApp in their country.
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Source: The New York Times
