WhatsApp has been blocked in China

Does this mean we'll never taste the thrill of those two blue ticks again?

In what is one of the most radical bits of online censorship since parent company Facebook got booted out of China back in 2009, reports have emerged that China has put the kibosh on the free messaging app WhatsApp.

Although WhatsApp isn't that popular here in China, its status as one of the most widely-used messaging apps worldwide means that it's being taken by many as a warning that, ahead of the upcoming Communist Party Congress, the party poopers in charge of online censorship aren't playing around.

This also means that Colourful Balloons, a photo-sharing app released under the radar back in the summer by Mark Zuckerberg and pals, is the only Facebook-owned property currently operating legally in the country. This doesn't bode well either for the Zuck, who was reportedly looking into setting up a Mainland China office in Shanghai.

You're not leaving us much to work with, China.

Our advice to WhatsApp users? Make like the rest of the world and get WeChat.

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