New Delhi: Following a request from the authorities, Apple has reportedly removed one of the world’s most popular Quran apps in China.
The app was taken down for allegedly hosting illegal religious texts, the BBC reported.
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Quran Majeed, which is available worldwide on the App Store, has around 150,000 reviews and is used by millions of Muslims.
According to the report, the app was first spotted by Apple Censorship – a website that monitors apps on Apple’s App Store globally.
The BBC quoted the app’s creator, PDMS, as saying: “According to Apple, our app Quran Majeed has been removed from the China App Store because it contains content that is illegal”.
“We are trying to contact the Cyberspace Administration of China and the relevant Chinese authorities to resolve this issue,” the statement said.
According to the company, it had about one million users in China.
While it is not clear what rules were violated by the app, the Quran Majeed states that it is “trusted by more than 35 million Muslims globally”.
The Communist Party of China officially recognizes Islam as a religion in the country. But China has been targeted over allegations of genocide against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, as well as alleged human rights violations.
According to a BBC report earlier this year, Uighur imams were targeted in China’s Xinjiang crackdown.
While Apple declined to comment on the deletion, it directed the BBC to its human rights policy, which states: “We need to comply with local laws, and there are sometimes complex issues about which I can disagree with governments”.
The New York Times previously reported on how Apple removes apps in China if they are deemed off-limits by the Chinese government.
According to their report, topics that the apps are not allowed to discuss include Tiananmen Square, the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong, the Dalai Lama and freedom for Tibet and Taiwan.
Microsoft announced on Thursday that it is shutting down LinkedIn in China as compliance with state norms becomes increasingly challenging.
The decision came after the networking site faced questions for blocking the profiles of some journalists.
In particular, Apple’s supply chain is heavily dependent on China, which is one of its largest markets. Apple chief executive Tim Cook has been accused of hypocrisy by US politicians for speaking up about US politics but keeping quiet about China, BBC reports.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have not made any statement on the issue of removing the Quran app.
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