Popular chat app WhatsApp has been removed from the App Store in one country. Will it be the Netherlands’ turn soon?
Apple removes WhatsApp from App Store in this country – will the Netherlands follow suit?
Apple hasn’t just removed WhatsApp from the App Store. Another Meta app has disappeared. The Threads app is also no longer available for download on iPhones in China.
Apple did this because China specifically requested it. Apple told 9to5Mac that the Cyberspace Administration of China is behind it. This is the national internet regulator of the People’s Republic of China.
Apple added: “We are required to respect and follow the laws of the country where we provide our services. Even if we don’t agree with it’. If Apple does not meet the requirements, there is a good chance that the App Store will have to be taken offline in China.
More apps may follow this year. China will then impose a number of new rules on apps. They must then adhere to the censorship and rules of the country, otherwise they can no longer be used. The country then obliges Apple to remove the apps from the App Store.
The removal of WhatsApp (and Threads) from Apple’s App Store will probably be limited to China for the time being. This will not happen so quickly in the Netherlands. Yet Apple also regularly removes apps from the App Store here.
Recently an emulator (iGBA) for the Nintendo GameBoy (Advance) suddenly appeared in the App Store. However, you had to be quick because the app was quickly removed from the App Store. The official reason Apple removed the iGBA app so quickly was that it was a copy of another emulator called GBA4iOS.
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