WhatsApp has been blocked in China as censors in Beijing stifle dissent and free speech ahead of a Communist Party reshuffle.

The crackdown follows the recent death in detention of pro-democracy dissident and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.

It also comes ahead of the 19th Party Congress at which significant changes to China's ruling Communist Party are expected.

Chinese users of the Facebook-owned messaging app have complained that they are unable to send photographs, video and voice messages in the country - with some complaining that even the basic messaging service is also unavailable.

Image: Vigils were held for human rights activist Liu Xiaobo

WhatsApp is not as popular in China as it is in the western world; most users prefer to use the domestic messaging app WeChat, which has more than 900 million users, instead.


However, WhatsApp's use of end-to-end encryption, which means that only the sender and the recipient can view the content of any messages, has made the app popular among privacy conscious citizens.

WeChat conversations are believed to be routinely accessed by the government.

In the UK, the use of end-to-end encryption has also drawn criticism from the government, with the Home Secretary Amber Rudd complaining that the authorities required access to the encrypted communications for policing.

Rudd calls for access to WhatsApp data

The same arguments are used in China, where the internet has long proved a thorn in the authoritarian regime's side which for years has responded with both technological and legal measures to control its citizens' access to information.

A national network-security construct called the Golden Shield Project has developed a censorship and surveillance tool known as the Great Firewall of China, which has been in operation since 2003.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are not accessible in China, which has recently also banned the image of Winnie the Pooh; reportedly because the bear was being compared to President Xi Jinping.