The latest story in today’s “Oops… all Threads” edition of the news takes us to China where Meta’s Twitter replacement is topping the App Store. That’s notable for a few reasons.
For starters, Meta doesn’t really do business in China, and Mark Zuckerberg’s comments on the Chinese Communist Party aren’t exactly diplomatic.
And like North Korea and Russia, China bans access to Meta services in the nation including Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram. Threads requires an Instagram account for access.
But as TechCrunch first reported, Threads is alive and well in China so far despite the nation’s ban. In the first day since launching, Threads has ranked as the fifth most popular app on the App Store in China. That’s a sure way to get the CCP’s attention.
Meta services are technically still accessible via VPN tools that can spoof locations. Still, it’s just a matter of time before the government takes notice and demands Threads be pulled by Apple, but that’s a story for tomorrow.
Apple regularly accommodates China’s demands to remove software from the App Store including VPN, news, and social media apps.
Most recently, Apple pulled Damus at the request of the CCP over “content that is illegal in China.” If Threads is still live in China by the time you’re reading this, that’s longer than we expected.
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