China just made it even harder for people in the country to access WhatsApp and Threads

The Chinese government has blocked WhatsApp since 2017, while its parent company, Meta, has been blocked since 2009. Other Western media platforms, including Gmail, YouTube, Snapchat, and Spotify, have also been censored in China.

Some users find ways to access these platforms through virtual private networks, but removal from the app store may prevent this.

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment sent outside normal business hours.

A Meta spokesperson referred BI to Apple for comment.

WhatsApp has over 2 billion users globally, while Instagram Threads, which launched in July, has over 130 million global users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in February.

China is an important manufacturing and consumer market for Apple. CEO Tim Cook visited the country last month to open a new store in Shanghai and rub elbows with top policymakers. That visit came after iPhone sales dropped earlier this year. And in January, Chinese chipmakers drew up plans to create chip production lines to supply processors to local smartphone makers. The move stands to hurt Apple, which has so far benefited from tight export restrictions.

China’s direction to Apple comes as US policymakers debate a ban on TikTok, the popular Chinese app. Some lawmakers are concerned about data harvesting and political influence. The bill would prevent Apple and Google from distributing TikTok’s app in their app stores and ban US websites from hosting TikTok.