Elon Musk-Backed Facebook Rival — Signal — Becomes Inaccessible In China

Signal, a messaging app that rivals Facebook Inc’s FB WhatsApp, has stopped working in China, CNBC reported Tuesday.

What Happened: The privacy-centric messaging app is still available for download on Apple Inc’s AAPL App Store, according to CNBC.

CNBC hinted that the app had been blocked by Chinese authorities after it tested Signal on multiple devices but messages did not go through.

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The application functioned when it was reportedly tested using a virtual private network — a tool that can be used to establish secure and encrypted connections.

Why It Matters: Signal claims its messaging service is end-to-end encrypted, which means it is not privy to the messages of its users.

Sensor Tower data indicates that 510,000 downloads of the application were made from the App Store in China.

In comparison, Tencent Holdings Limited TCEHY WeChat has over a billion monthly users in China, as per CNBC.

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk said in January that he had donated money to Signal a year ago and he would “donate more.”

See Also: Elon Musk Sends Signal Downloads Soaring: What You Should Know About The App

A proposed change to WhatsApp privacy policy sent downloads of Signal soaring just as the year began, which the latter’s CEO Brain Acton called an “opportunity for Signal to shine.”

Acton was one of the co-founders of WhatsApp and left the company after it was taken over by Facebook in 2014.

Price Action: Facebook shares closed nearly 2% higher at $273.75 on Monday and fell 0.2% in the after-hours session. 

Photo: Courtesy of Signal