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Apple’s removal of Damus social media platform from China App Store was ‘expected’ by developers amid Beijing’s strict censorship
- The creator of Nostr, the open protocol on which Damus was built, said the app’s removal came as no surprise because of China’s Great Firewall
- The Nostr protocol is touted as capable of creating a censorship-resistant global social network
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Apple’s recent removal of Damus, a decentralised social media platform built on an open protocol backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, from its China App Store for violating domestic cybersecurity laws came as no surprise at all, according to the developer behind the new app’s technology.
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“I think it was to be expected, although it didn’t occur to me because I wasn’t actively aware of the extent of the Great Firewall,” the creator of the internet open protocol Nostr, who goes by the handle “fiatjaf” on social media, said in an interview via Telegram.
Damus, built on the Nostr protocol that is touted as capable of creating a censorship-resistant global social network, was pulled from the App Store on February 3 based on a directive from internet watchdog the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), according to a Twitter post by Damus, just two days after the app’s global launch. “That was fast,” Damus said in its post.
The app “includes content that is illegal in China”, according to the CAC’s directive to the App Store cited in Damus’ post. The CAC said the app violated the provisions on “the Security Assessment of Internet-based Information Services with Attribute of Public Opinions or Capable of Social Mobilisation”.
Because the app is built on an open internet protocol, creating a user account on Damus does not require a phone number, email or name, and all private messaging is encrypted, according to its website. Damus said all messages are distributed via decentralised relay servers and that “there is no platform that can ban or censor” users, who have control of their data.
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An Android Nostr app named Amethyst was also launched on February 1 on the Google Play Store, which is not accessible in mainland China. A search on local Android app stores, including those run by Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies Co, did not yield any results.
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