The US private social voice application Clubhouse has swarmed a large number of Chinese users, and some even peddled invitation codes online. However, the app is now reportedly banned in China following reports of Chinese users discussing taboo issues such as the China-Taiwan relations as well as the Uighur genocide on the app.
source: Bloomberg
The popularity of the app in China witnessed the nationwide bidding for clubhouse's invite codes online with the highest bids for the codes can go as high as 400 yuan (about RM 251) but at present, all invitation codes sold on Chinese online shopping platforms such as Taobao have all been removed.
source: Milenio
Users are greeted with an error message, "An SSL error has occurred and a secure connection to the server cannot be made.” every time they try to open the app, thereby revoking all access to its features. Other than that, mobile phone numbers starting with "+86" (Chinese telephone area code) are now blocked from receiving any verifications whatsoever.
source: Tech Crunch
However, some of the users have been able to regain access to Clubhouse via a virtual private network (VPN).
China has a history of banning apps that possess any kind of resemblance for free speech, and among the victims are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more.
