China crackdown on Apple store hits holy book apps and Audible
- Developers say their apps for reading and listening to the Koran and Bible have been removed at the government’s request
- Amazon’s audiobook service says it took down its app due to ‘permit requirements’
Amazon’s audiobook service Audible and phone apps for reading the holy books of Islam and Christianity have disappeared from the Apple store in mainland China, the latest examples of the impact of the country’s tightened rules for internet firms.
Audible said on Friday that it removed its app from the Apple store in mainland China last month “due to permit requirements”.
The makers of apps for reading and listening to the Koran and Bible say their apps have also been removed from Apple’s China-based store at the government’s request.
Apple did not return requests for comment on Friday. Neither did China’s embassy in the US.
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China’s government has long sought to control the flow of information online, but is increasingly stepping up its enforcement of the internet sector in other ways, making it hard to determine the causes for a particular app’s removal.