Beijing Partially Blocks WhatsApp Messages Amid Web Censorship Campaign

China partially barred the services provided by the WhatsApp, an encrypted instant messaging application, which might be part of internet censorship measures, introduced ahead of the National People's Congress, set for fall, the Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The newspaper specified that though the text messages it sent from the Chinese capital via WhatsApp on Wednesday reached the recipient, all photos, videos and voice messages were blocked.

The newspaper also informed about the Chinese citizens’ complaints about the total block of the service.

The move is expected to push the Chinese residents to domestically-designed WeChat, which, in contrast to the WhatsApp, is an unencrypted service, allowing conversations’ monitoring.

Popular Facebook and Instagram services have been blocked by Beijing since 2009 and 2014, respectively. On July 10, media reported, citing unnamed industry sources, that Chinese authorities plan to require the nation’s telecommunications operators to block individual access to virtual private network (VPN) services by February 2018.

The latest restrictions with regard to the internet censorship come as twice-a-decade power reshuffle is looming with the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress expected to elect new leadership.