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A popular virtual private network service has been forced to close in China on orders from the government, it emerged on Monday. Bloomberg reported that GreenVPN sent a notice to its customers saying it would end the service from July 1 after "receiving a notice from regulatory departments".
VPNs route and encrypt internet traffic to servers outside of the country, making them popular with users in China who have limited access to online content because of government restrictions. VPNs allow access to sites like Facebook and Twitter, which are otherwise blocked by China's "Great Firewall".
Some users of the GreenVPN iPhone app reported that the service failed to load over the weekend. Apps for GreenVPN and SuperVPN are still listed in the App Store, but users reportedly had trouble downloading them or turning them on. Bloomberg was unable to contact SuperVPN's offices, while Apple didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
It's unknown whether the timing of the VPN shutdown is related to the politically sensitive 20th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Great Britain to China. In January, China's Ministry of Industry and Information announced new priorities for controlling online content which included restrictions on VPNs.
Last year, Apple faced its own issues with Chinese state regulators regarding a controversial independent movie which led to the shut down of iTunes and iBooks in the country.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)I wonder whether VPN services like these will ever be blocked in the U.K. The idea doesn't seem so far fetched anymore.
Sigh...... Apple caving into demands.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues ('https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/politics-religion-social-issues.47/') forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
SERIOUSLY, STOP.If you guys are worried that topic would turn into political shouting match, just don't allow comments at all. Probably for the best in this political climate.
Yep. Matter of time before Apple is forced to take down all VPN app from the Chinese App Store page.
It's good for ratings (CNN moto). Just avoid mentioning something that's against a mod's view and it's fine.Sigh...... Apple caving into demands.
SERIOUSLY, STOP.
If you guys are worried that topic would turn into political shouting match, just don't allow comments at all. Probably for the best in this political climate.
Does it matter? The Chinese are happy.
So you speak on for all China and propagate the notion that Asians are subservient and footbound and like it...?Culturally speaking, total freedom, like a Western democracy, is quite foreign to a lot of Asian cultures. Even in democratic countries like Japan and Korea, family life is strict and patriarchal. If these countries were to gradually revert back to a benevolent dictatorship, I'm not even sure if the people in those countries would even mind.
Are you sure?