{"id":356957,"date":"2017-09-26T07:24:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T07:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=356957"},"modified":"2017-11-10T11:11:07","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T11:11:07","slug":"china-disrupts-whatsapp-ahead-of-communist-party-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/09\/china-disrupts-whatsapp-ahead-of-communist-party-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"China disrupts WhatsApp ahead of Communist Party meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The messaging service WhatsApp has been disrupted in China as the government steps up security ahead of a Communist Party meeting next month.<\/p>\n

Users have faced problems with the app for more than a week with services dropping in and out.<\/p>\n

At times, it has been completely blocked and only accessible via virtual private networks (VPNs) which circumvent China’s internet firewall.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp is Facebook’s only product allowed to operate in mainland China.<\/p>\n

Facebook’s main social media service and its Instagram image sharing app are not available on the mainland.<\/p>\n

Services disrupted<\/strong><\/p>\n

The BBC’s China based correspondents said the WhatsApp messaging service started going offline more than a week ago.<\/p>\n

A test of its services on Tuesday showed users in China could not send video messages or photographs to people outside China.<\/p>\n

The disruption follows restrictions on WhatsApp\u00a0video chats and photographs\u00a0in July, which were later lifted.<\/p>\n

The tightening of online censorship comes as China steps up security ahead of the Communist Party’s national congress which is held every five years.<\/p>\n

“The run-up period to a gathering is a normally a time of greater restrictions of all kinds to assure that the critical Party Congress is held under ideal social conditions and is not disrupted”, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, long-time advisor to China’s leaders and multinational corporations told the BBC.<\/p>\n

However, he said it is not yet clear whether the restrictions will be relaxed as has happened after previous party congresses, adding that many analysts do not believe they will be.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp has declined to comment on the latest clampdown.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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