Twitter
Advertisement

Microsoft's Skype vanishes from Apple, Google and other app stores in China

Cyber authorities have also periodically interrupted services, such as Facebook Inc’s encrypted messenger app Whatsapp over the last two months.

Latest News
article-main
Skype is the latest addition to the list of internet platforms which has become inaccessible to Chinese users.
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Skype, Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) internet phone call and messaging service, has disappeared from app stores in China including that of Apple Inc, indicating the latest setback for a foreign tech service in the country.

Apple on Tuesday said that it had removed several internet phone call apps from its App Store in China after the country’s government said they violated local laws.

"We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of voice over internet protocol apps do not comply with local law, therefore these apps have been removed from the App Store in China," an Apple spokeswoman said. 

Skype is the latest addition to the list of internet platforms, including Alphabet Inc's Google services, Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc, which has become inaccessible to Chinese users.

China has increased scrutiny of internet applications this year, ordering firms to remove hundreds of apps that allow users to communicate confidentially or get around China’s so-called Great Firewall system of censorship and use overseas social media.

Cyber authorities have also periodically interrupted services, such as Facebook Inc’s encrypted messenger app Whatsapp over the last two months.

The authorities said such actions are designed to protect personal privacy and prevent online terrorist activity. Foreign tech lobbies and businesses operating in China have said internet rules are too strict and could hit their local operations.

The actions are linked to real name authentication laws brought in earlier this year, requiring all network providers to verify the real names of users with state-issued IDs or passports.

Chinese netizens on Tuesday evening took to Weibo to discuss Skype’s disappearance, which many criticized for being overly restrictive, despite the existence of local alternatives.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement