It looks like Flipboard has become the latest victim to fall prey to the Great Firewall, the state-run system of censorship and surveillance that dictates what China’s internet users are allowed to see.
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People using the personal magazine curation app in that country can no longer access the international version, although local content apparently remains unaffected.
As The Next Web notes, this isn’t the first time the service has been blocked in the country.
Back in 2011 it joined the likes of Twitter and Facebook in being shut out by the Great Firewall, before launching again in the country in March 2012. And until now it has allowed its Chinese users to get a glimpse of life behind the Great Firewall, with access to Twitter and certain Western news sites that are blocked by the state.
At this stage, it’s unclear whether the censorship has been enforced by the state, or if Flipboard made the switch itself. The company did however tweet that it was investigating the issue, which suggests that switch may have been flipped without consulting it:
@CusvinWashman we are still investigating. Do you know what version you are using?
— Tommy (@FlipboardTC) August 5, 2013
That said, the official statement it gave to The Next Web hasn’t done much to clear things up:
We have an edition of Flipboard for China. Each country is very different and requires a tailored approach, but the common thread is that we work with local partners. In China, we partner with Sina, the most influential Chinese portal, and Renren, China’s leading real-name social networking platform. They provide us with relevant local content and support us with marketing efforts.
