Apple’s iTunes Movies and iBooks Blocked in China

China blocks Apple from selling iBooks and movies : China has blocked the sale of iBooks and iTunes movies less than seven months after Apple launched its service in the country. The New York Times reported Thursday that Apple’s online movie and book stores initially received government approval. However, the state’s broadcasting regulator decided to block the services last week. The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has been stretching its authority to online content. China is Apple’s second largest market after the U.S. Stylish stores selling Apple products are now a feature of almost all China’s major cities.

Apple confirms services have been taken offline and says it hopes to make them available again as soon as possible.Apple has confirmed its iTunes Movies and iBooks services have become unavailable in China, after reports that authorities had ordered them to be taken offline.“We hope to make books and movies available again to our customers in China as soon as possible,” a spokeswoman for Apple said in a statement.The services, launched less than seven months ago in China, were shut down last week. Apple did not give a reason for the closedown.

Beijing keeps a tight grip on broadcast, print and online media, while restricting access to foreign websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter with a vast control network dubbed the Great Firewall of China.Content deemed politically sensitive, violent or morally “unhealthy” is regularly blocked in the country.China is a key market for Apple, where its products are widely popular, but it has previously been targeted by state-run media over issues such as service and pricing.The state broadcaster CCTV in 2014 accused the California-based company of threatening national security through the iPhone’s ability to track a user’s location, a threat Apple quickly denied.