Earlier, many Whatsapp users in China reported bugs that they are not able to send images and videos. When checked, cyber experts said that the servers of Whatsapp are not completely blocked but are widely unavailable. “We realized that the servers that Whatsapp uses to exchange videos, photos and files were being blocked in the same way they would block Facebook, the BBC etc.” Nadim Kobeissi, an applied cryptographer at Paris-based startup Symbolic Software said.

For paying tribute to Liu Xiaobo- a prominent Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist, many Chinese were using Whatsapp to share his pictures.  Smith from GreatFire believes Whatsapp crackdown may be a step to eliminate sharing information about the activist.

Last week, pictures of Winnie-The Pooh were also censored in Chinese social media as the bear was compared to president Xi Jinping.

It is believed that China’s new cyber security law will make it more difficult for foreign firms to set business in China. China has already blocked various western platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Gmail, BlogSpot and many more outlets. The country is known for its largest censorship system called Great Firewall.

In China, the home grown messaging app, WeChat is used by 900m users. It is said to take Whatsapp place in the country. Though WeChat is routinely monitored and is unencrypted.

“By blocking WhatsApp, the authorities have shut down one of the few remaining free and encrypted messaging apps but, more importantly, they have also limited the ability for Chinese to have private conversations with their peers,” a Chinese censorship researcher  Charlie Smith, said in an e-mail to The Guardian.

All these steps by Chinese government is to encourage the usage of domestic companies such as Baidu (BIDU, Tech30), Youku, Sina(SINA) and Tencent (TCEHY).