Yahoo app vanishes in China amid rising censorship
CHINESE internet users have lost one of their last avenues to foreign news after the Yahoo Finance app disappeared from Apple’s store, as the Communist Party intensifies its censorship of information from abroad.
The Yahoo app republishes news from foreign media outlets, including those whose websites are blocked in China, such as Bloomberg and Reuters, as well as stock market data.
This allowed users to skirt official censorship bans, a feature that probably drew the ire of the Chinese authorities.
Beijing’s crackdown on foreign content and influence in China has affected everything from private school curricula to karaoke bar songs.
Chinese government censors have always tightly controlled news and information, blocking access to foreign media websites and social media networks such as the BBC, The New York Times, Facebook, Google and Twitter.
“Recently, Apple has been removing many apps at the demand of the Chinese authorities,” said Benjamin Ismail, project director at Apple Censorship, an organisation that tracks which apps are available and where.
“But complying with governments’ orders is different than complying with law, especially in China, where the authorities often resort to extra-legal means to muzzle the press, bloggers, activists or any dissenting voices.”
It was not clear whether Yahoo or Apple had removed the app. Yahoo did not respond to a request for comment, while Apple did not comment.
Days before the removal of the Yahoo app was detected last week, it carried a story by Bloomberg about China’s suppression of the tech industry. The article detailed how Apple had, thus far, managed to stay on Beijing’s good side – including by taking down mobile apps at the request of the authorities.
Over the past few weeks, at least nine other apps that offer religious material – texts, prayers and podcasts – have also been taken down from Apple’s mainland China app store. Apps affected include Quran Majeed, Olive Tree Bible, the King James Version Holy Bible, and Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom.
Olive Tree Bible said it had been told during a review that it needed to “provide a permit” showing it was allowed to distribute such an app in mainland China. The company chose to remove the app itself for now, as it works to obtain the necessary approvals.
Even a handful of Christmas-themed mobile games have been taken down from Apple’s China app store.
The officially atheist ruling Communist Party has waged a campaign against religion, ripping down crosses, shutting mosques and decreeing pictures of leader Xi Jinping be displayed in Buddhist temples and Christian churches.
The Daily Telegraph independently verified that these apps are no longer available to Apple users in China.
Last week, Linkedin, the professional networking service, said it would shut the version of its site available in China as it was “facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements”.