Apple's online book and movie services have been shut down in China in a move that tightens internet security to prevent “online threats” such as terrorism or harmful foreign ideas. This comes after a ruling that outlaws foreign owned online services that now requires all content shown to the Chinese public to be based in the country's mainland. The new regulations announced in March are a blow to Apple in China, its second biggest market, where it is now expected to lose out to online native companies such as Alibaba or Tencent. Since the pages have been blocked, any user who attempts to use either service will see a message stating that the page is “unusable”. The Chinese media watchdog has defended the strict rules which it's thought are in place to increase the governments control over the internet and other media outlets.Â
