Whatsapp News: Some File Sharing and Communication Features Blocked in China
Reports find that some file sharing and basic communication features of the Facebook-owned messaging service Whatsapp are being blocked in China.
Whatsapp is, undoubtedly, one of the most widely used messaging apps in the world accumulating up to 1.2 billion active users by the start of 2017. It also used to be one of the few online service apps operated by a multinational corporation that was fully working in China. However, that has changed recently.
The Chinese government is well-known for its air-tight security measures when it comes to internet services. To this day, there are major websites and social media platforms that cannot be accessed by people within the territories of the Red Dragon.
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According to an exclusive report by the New York Times, some people in China found themselves unable to share photos and videos through Whatsapp recently. Some also claimed that even the option to relay text messages and make voice or video calls have apparently been blocked as well.
Unfortunately, reports say that Whatsapp features were still blocked even when people tried to use a virtual private network.
China employs a system called "Great Firewall" which, as the name suggests, uses internet protocols that lets its government restrict select websites and platforms from being accessed by its citizens or even by tourists who have set foot in their territory.
Meanwhile, the various exposé reports by several organizations and whistleblowers that claimed the United States government and big foreign corporations could team up to put an entire country under surveillance gave the Chinese government more reason to put up a virtual Great Wall.
The New York Times pointed out that this led to China's newest cybersecurity law to be passed and enacted in May, despite the fact that several business groups operating in China have hanging questions about the manner of its regulation.
In a separate report, the publication quoted Nokia executive and the vice president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Michael Chang, who voiced out some concerns over the new cyber law. He said, "Industry is not ready because the implementation rules are not clear."
Chang added: "We still have a lot of unclarified territory that needs to be addressed as soon as possible."
