China blocks sending photos and videos in WhatsApp

WhatsApp users in China will no longer be able to send photos and videos, and some users may no longer be able to send or receive text messages. According to a New York Times source, it is a government blockade.

An anonymous source tells the American newspaper that the problems experienced by WhatsApp users in China are caused by a blockade initiated by the government. A security company endorses this and says that the Great Firewall is being used to selectively block WhatsApp functionality. It is not yet clear whether the Chinese government actually only wants to block parts of the chat service, or whether it is the run-up to a complete blockade.

WhatsApp is not one of the most used chat apps in China. The local WeChat is the biggest player there. However, that app does not offer end-to-end encryption, something WhatsApp does. Line, a chat application that is popular in many Asian countries and also offers end-to-end encryption, has also been blocked in China.

Until now, WhatsApp was the last major Facebook service to work flawlessly in China. The social network itself has been blocked since 2009 and since 2014 Instagram has also been blocked, which is also owned by Facebook. Google and Gmail have also been blocked in China for years. According to Greatfire.org, China blocks 171 of the 1,000 most popular websites, based on a ranking from Alexa.

China is also trying to make it more difficult to circumvent the blockades by taking action against the use of VPN connections. The Chinese government launched a campaign in January to ban VPN services. Since then, all VPN services in China have required government approval to operate in the country.