Why has China banned popular social media app Clubhouse? 

Summary

• Audio-based social media app Clubhouse was blocked in China after enjoying a brief period of unrestricted access.
• The app had gained popularity as it allowed Chinese users to discuss sensitive topics freely.

The social media app Clubhouse was blocked in China on 8 February following a brief period of unrestricted access. It is a voice-based app, which is only available for iPhone users, where people can share audio clips and share their updates or concerns, instead of posts and pictures like in Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 

The platform's community-based spaces also called as "clubs" are divided into speakers and listeners, the rooms also have moderators to maintain decorum. 

Before its access being revoked, the platform had allowed users the freedom to discuss a variety of sensitive topics in a region where online discussions are heavily monitored and regulated.  

Copyright © 2020 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd.

Sudden rise in popularity 

The platform witnessed a sudden popularity in users last week after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), interviewed Vlad Tenev, CEO of trading app Robinhood, to discuss GameStop and the reaction on Wallstreet. The club, hosting the discussion, quickly reached the upper limit of 5,000 concurrent listeners, leading to several spillover clubs to join in. 

While the start-up had initially garnered interests within technology circles, the unfettered access to discuss any topic helped boost appeal for a broader user base. The live audio streaming app had several active Chinese-language clubs wherein users could join discussions on several politically sensitive issues. Rooms held engaging talks surrounding Uighur rights, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan's independence, China's national identity, and gender issues before it was banned. 

China's censorship 

However, users can still access the chat app via a virtual private network, a standard method used by netizens who want to bypass China's online surveillance network nicknamed the Great Firewall. Banned apps such as Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), among other sites, can similarly be accessed using the same method. Virtual private networks facilitate a user's internet traffic to be encrypted and help disguise their online identity aiding in data privacy, thus making it more challenging for China's censorship network to track someone's internet activity. 

The audio streaming platform became a trending topic on Chinese social media. Moreover, according to a media report, China's leading online retail site Alibaba (HKG: 9988) saw some users auctioning off Clubhouse invites for up to US $44.60.  

The app had also offered an outlet for mainland Chinese people a rare opportunity to interact with their Hong Kong and Taiwanese counterparts allowing both sides to have open and unfiltered discussions. Additionally, it had provided a platform to the Chinese citizens to communicate with other nationalities surpassing the current travel restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic. 

According to experts, the likelihood of the app being unblocked was low as meeting the Chinese surveillance laws, and other regulations would prove difficult for a small start-up with no guarantee of it being granted access to the Chinese market.