Writing for the New York Times, Farhad Manjoo argues that app blocking is a more powerful form of censorship than traditional ways of restricting web use and publishing: there usually are workarounds for accessing a blocked website.

Moreover, as Google’s and Apple’s operating systems typically allow the download of apps only though the respective app stores, the centralised control over apps becomes “one of the most efficient choke points of communication the world has ever seen”.

As a consequence, in combatting digital censorship, too much currently depends on the good will of the few internet giants that control much of the flow of information online, Manjoo concludes.

Earlier this year Apple, compelled by the Chinese government, removed the New York Times’s iOS app from the Chinese version of App Store. Furthermore, Russia forced Apple and Google to remove LinkedIn’s app in the country’s app stores, as its users’ data is not hosted on servers in Russia.