China Has Completely Blocked WhatsApp, Broadening Its Censorship Of Citizens In The Country
The Chinese government has blocked even the app's text sending capability ahead of a Communist Party meet next month.
WhatsApp has been barely hanging on in China ever since the government blocked the app¡¯s photos and video sharing capabilities earlier in July.
Now, it seems the app isn¡¯t functional in the region at all.
According to the New York Times, the government has blocked the app ahead of a major Communist Party gathering next month. Paris-based research firm Symbolic Software says WhatsApp users in the area can¡¯t even send text messages anymore. Some few users however may still remain unaffected.
The interesting thing here is that the Chinese censors have likely specialized software to block WhatsApp¡¯s texting feature, one that uses encryption technology that¡¯s not widely used. Now that they¡¯ve managed to achieve the feat, it¡¯s probably only a matter of time before other similarly encrypted services are blocked off as well.
Only WeChat, a locally designed and easily monitored app, is likely to remain unaffected. WeChat users are forced to register with their personal data, giving the government unrestricted access to details about the user base, and even individuals¡¯ text logs.
Facebook has so far declined to comment about WhatsApp¡¯s block in China, though it¡¯s definitely a huge setback for the country. The messaging service was one of their only two properties available in the billion-strong potential user base of China, with the main Facebook website and app already having been blocked.
