China was cracked down for the messaging apps as Viber became inaccessible to the users in China. The Great Firewall has already blocked the popular apps from Korea (Kakao Talk) and Japan (Line). Instagram, a photo sharing app has also been blocked.
Tech In Asia had reported that users of these social media had reported that the users were complaining that they are not able to access these messaging apps as they normally do. The site tried to enter on the homepage of Viber with their browser but they were not able to do so since the website was inaccessible.
As reported: from the mainland China , it was possible for Tech In Asia to enter access the homepage of Viber on its browser but it failed to access to its website. It was working with a proxy or a VPN on. Some people reported that the website may be accessed by the use of 3G of China Unicom but this was not the case when Tech in Asia did the tests of the network.
While testing, a workmate who was using Android (using the viber app of Google Play and another was using OnePlus Phone) did not get any problem when it comes to Viber. However, my iPhone version of the Viber was showing all the signs that the web has been blocked.
The blocked apps have been said that it is the part of the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. They have already blocked services from Snapchat, Google Service, Twitter, Taptalk and Facebook. As the Viber gets blocked, the users are turning to the use of another chatting service called WeChat. Greatfire.org is an anticensorship crusader. He had run the test to see if the app is being accessed but the results is that Viber had been completely blocked.
Tech In Asia contacted Talmon Marco, the Viber CEO when he was asking about how Viber was blocked even if there were some people who were able to access it in one way or another. However, the CEO said that the latest version is working if other versions are not working it may be because they are yet to be elaborated on.
With Viber, all the signs are there but the problem is that there is nothing that can be done on the website. It only works if the proxy or the VPN are turned on. However, many people were not affected because Viber is not that popular within China since WeChat has become the app of choice. Many people at the Weibo may have noticed this block since many people turned to Weibo when it was blocked now that Viber is blocked, they do not know what they have to do. This problem started when Viber was acquired by Rakuten, a Japan company from February. Tech In Asia had no problem in getting access to WhatsApp and it is still able to work within China and there is no problem with it given the relationship it has with the Facebook. Now people are waiting to get to know what Viber officials say about this.