China is gearing up to ban Skype since it reportedly violates national laws. Apple was informed by Chinese authorities to remove all apps including Skype that has violated national laws. According to reports, Skype has vanished from the China Apple Store and Google Play Store. The removal of Skype in China assumes importance as Chine is scheduled to host the fourth World Internet Conference in December 2017.
Commenting on the development, the Cupertino-based tech company disclosed that they received a notification from the Ministry of Public Security that a large number of VoIP apps are not compliant with local laws. Hence, all those apps that violate laws have been removed from the App Store in China. However, the apps are available in other markets and countries.
Meanwhile, the iPhone manufacturer declined to reveal as to under which laws the apps have violated. The Chinese authorities invaded deep into the WhatsApp messaging system and blocked it ahead of the party congress in October.
The development created huge anger among people, companies, and businesses who have been making use of the WhatsApp to communicate with friends and clients worldwide. People who have stored contacts or groups inside WhatsApp are left with no other reliable option.
According to industry analysts, the Chinese authorities have been blocking all services and apps with effective encryption measures. The inclusion of touch encryption inside WhatsApp and Skype is preventing law enforcement agencies from monitoring them. Hence, these services are liable for misuse. Even though Skype has been blocked, the business version is still available for download.
To recall, China has blocked a wide range of services such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram including several news companies. People have termed them as Great Firewall of China. By banning popular social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter, China has shown to the world that they are going one step backward. How can people express their opinion about a particular incident if there is no medium for expressing it?
In India, the Communist Party speaks about freedom of speech and other things. But in their own bastion, the Government is doing all kind of nitty-gritty things to ban popular social platforms. Please share your opinion about the recent removal of Skype from Apple Store in China.
