Great Firewall of China blocks Viber

30 Oct 2014

It seems Viber, everyone’s favourite sticker-heavy messaging app, is the latest social media service blocked in China.

Japan’s Line, Korea’s KakaoTalk and photo-sharing app Instagram have already been blocked by the Great Firewall in China and now, according to reports, Viber is the latest to get the cold shoulder.

Techinasia.com reports that all the usual signs are there. “Posts on social media reveal users complaining that they can’t access the app as they normally would,” explains Steven Millward on the site.

“From mainland China, Tech in Asia entered Viber’s homepage in a browser but can’t connect to its website. It works with a VPN or proxy on. A couple of people say it works via China Unicom’s 3G, but that’s not the case in our test of that network.

“In our tests, one workmate on Android (using the Viber app from Google Play on a OnePlus phone) is not having any issues with Viber, but my iPhone version of Viber shows all the signs of a web blockade.” 

Viber image via Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com