In a surprising turn of events, Meta’s new social networking platform, Threads, has managed to break through the barriers of the Great Firewall. Threads app defies ban, achieves top 5 position on Apple’s China app store. This remarkable achievement comes despite the app being blocked in mainland China, requiring users to rely on VPNs and other censorship circumvention tools to access it.
Threads, which bears a striking resemblance to Twitter and was introduced by Instagram, quickly captured the attention of Chinese users, propelling it to the upper echelons of the App Store rankings within just one day of its launch. While the app currently trails behind the likes of Xiaohongshu, WeChat, QQ, and Weibo, all of which boast massive user bases, its rapid rise is still impressive.
The enigma surrounding the availability of Threads in China remains. Greatfire.org, an organization monitoring online censorship, indicates that the domain www.threads.net has been inaccessible in China since July 4. Whether China intentionally blocked Threads or if it simply slipped through the cracks of the Great Firewall is still uncertain.
What makes Threads’ presence on the China App Store even more intriguing is the fact that Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, all banned in China, have managed to find their way onto the platform in the past. It is speculated that Threads might be connecting to Meta’s servers that are already restricted in China, thereby allowing it to evade immediate censorship.
This unexpected development not only signifies the growing popularity of Threads but also relieves Apple from potential scrutiny for removing apps under the pressure of Beijing’s requests. Avoiding such politically sensitive situations is a strategic move for the tech giant.
While it remains to be seen how Chinese censors will tackle Threads, past experiences with Western social apps suggest that once they gain substantial traction, they tend to attract the attention of the authorities. However, the decentralized nature of Threads, operating on the ActivityPub protocol, used by platforms like Mastodon, might pose a challenge for complete censorship.
As Threads app achieves one of the top 5 positions on Apple’s China App store, all eyes are on Threads as it defies the ban and carves out a space for itself in the competitive Chinese social media landscape. How this remarkable journey will progress and what hurdles Threads will encounter in the face of censorship will undoubtedly be fascinating to witness.
Source: Apple’s China App Store
