China has known for its brute laws against social media, Internet users and online content that could “potentially” harm the government’s policies in any way. China is one of leading countries where freedom of speech is controlled by the authoritarian regime. And now the victims are VPN services that Apple provides on its app store as the government of the country has recently ordered Apple to remove Virtual Private Networks (VPN) from its Chinese app store.
Apple has bowed down and has removed VPN services in the country. VPN services allow Chinese citizens to bypass government’s restrictions on internet usage and access uncensored websites and content. It also allows citizens to hide one’s IP address. As of now three VPN service providers which include, ExpressVPN, VyprVPN and StarVPN have been removed from Apple’s Chinese app store.
Apple told a media outlet, “It has 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.”
Golden Frog’s president Sunday Yokubaitis, the company that distributes VyprVPN, said, “If Apple views accessibility as a human right, we would hope Apple will likewise recognize internet access as a human right (the UN has even ruled it as such) and would choose human rights over profits”.
Read also: China to further tighten its internet control
After the US, China is the second largest consumer market for Apple that is why the company does not want to anger Chinese Government and decided to do what the government says.
The government has also recently announced that it will develop its own “Wikipedia” in a bid to censor online content. Moreover, the Google and BBC are also blocked in the country.
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