Apple has begun requiring new apps to show proof of a Chinese Communist Party license before including the apps on its China App Store.
Apple began last Friday requiring app developers to submit the “internet content provider (ICP) filing” when they publish new apps on its App Store, it said on its website for developers.
An ICP filing is a longtime registration system, required for websites to operate legally in China, and most local app stores including those operated by Tencent and Huawei have adopted it since at least 2017.
To get an ICP filing license, developers need to have a company in China or work with a local publisher, which has been an obstacle for a large number of foreign apps.
The decision by Apple comes after China further tightened its oversight over mobile apps in August by releasing a new rule requiring all app stores and app developers to submit an “app filing” containing business details with the regulators.
Apple’s compliance status could affect the accessibility of hundreds of thousands of apps on its App Store in China, including popular foreign apps like X, formerly known as Twitter, and Telegram, which became popular during protests against COVID-19 lockdowns last year.
MacDailyNews Take: As Potter Stewart said so well, “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.”
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