CHINA REMOVES Bible APPS from APP stores, shuts down popular CHRISTIAN SITES.
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Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Apps on a phone, China removes several Christian phone apps
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CHINA REMOVES BIBLE APPS FROM APP STORE, SHUTS DOWN POPULAR CHRISTIAN WEBSITES Share
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#religious freedom #China #technology #top headlines #christian persecution
China’s government in recent days continued its clampdown on Christianity within cyberspace by banning various Bible apps and shutting down WeChat Christian public accounts, according to a new report.
International Christian Concern reported May 1 that Christian accounts on WeChat – a Chinese social media platform – are no longer available. When Chinese citizens attempt to access WeChat Christian pages such as “Gospel League” and “Life Quarterly,” they receive a message reading, a] VPN to circumvent the Firewall,” ICC said in its report.
This is not the first time China has targeted Bible apps. In 2019, China’s government removed a 6-year-old Chinese Bible app called WeDevote after it had been downloaded 10 million times, World reported. Popular American Bible apps such as YouVersion are not available in the Chinese app store.
WeDevote co-founder Levi Fan told World that China’s government monitored not only the app but also Fan himself. In 2015, Beijing’s Public Security Bureau ordered him to come to its office for a chat. Officials told him they “knew about the articles his wife had written on a Christian WeChat account and about the new house they had purchased,” World said. A police officer told Fan he was being watched.
“It was uncomfortable knowing that they knew everything, but because the Chinese house church has faced this persecution in the past, it wasn’t foreign to me,” Fan told World in 2019. “It helped me grow closer to God. I realized that I couldn’t do this on my own and I needed to pray more.”
Related:
China to Stamp Out 5 ‘Illegal Social Organizations,’ Including House Churches
Photo courtesy: ©Jizhidexiaohailang/Unsplash
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
