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Banned but popular: The apps that have been blocked the most

PUBG Mobile closes the ranking as the only game on the list of the most popular banned apps.

Meta says Russian operation called 'Doppelganger' has persisted in efforts to undermine support for Ukraine by using fake accounts on social media
Meta says Russian operation called 'Doppelganger' has persisted in efforts to undermine support for Ukraine by using fake accounts on social media - Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV
Meta says Russian operation called 'Doppelganger' has persisted in efforts to undermine support for Ukraine by using fake accounts on social media - Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

A new study shows that the most popular app that is banned in multiple countries is Facebook with 3.05 billion monthly users. Following this, TikTok stands out as an app that may become banned in the US for 170 million users in the country.

PUBG Mobile closes the ranking as the only game on the list of the most popular banned apps.

Researchers based at Linkee.ai conducted a study to rank the most popular apps that are currently banned in other countries.The information about monthly world and US users and revenue was collected from Statista. Google searches in the US were added for additional context.

The final ranking was made based on the number of monthly users.

AppTypeMonthly UsersUS UsersRevenue Total 2023Revenue US 2023Banned in
Facebooksocial media3.05B175M$134.9B$61.2BChina, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uganda
Whatsappmessaging app3.03B98M$1.24B$40MChina, North Korea, Syria, Qatar and the UAE
Youtubevideo sharing2.7B239M$31.5B$18BNorth Korea, partial ban in Germany, China, North Korea, Thailand, Malaysia
Intagramsocial media2B133.5M$50.58B$60.3BChina, Vietnam, North Korea, Turkey
Googlesearch engine1.5B276M$305.6B$256BChina
WeChatmessaging app1.3B4M$16.4B$71.4MIndia, partial ban in Canada, UK, New Zealand (government devices)
TikToksocial media1B170M$120B$16BIndia, partial bans in Nepal, New Zealand, Taiwan, Indonesia
Twittersocial media335.7M76M$3.4B$1.75BChina, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, and Turkmenistan
Baidubrowser667M7.5M$14.57B164MIndia
Spotifymusic service602M100M$13.2B$1.43BChina, Ethiopia, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Cuba and Venezuela

From the above table, Facebook is the most popular app that is banned in other countries with 3.0 billion monthly users all over the world. It is currently banned in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea among other countries but it still brought over $130B in revenue last year.

Whatsapp takes the second place in the ranking of the most popular banned apps, getting 3.03 billion monthly users, closely trailing Facebook. Popular messenger is similarly banned in China and North Korea, but it is also not allowed in Syria, Qatar and UAE. Whatsapp has less users in the US with 98 million but it is more searched online than Facebook, gathering over 5M queries in a month.

Youtube is third with 2.7 million monthly users all over the world. Youtube is the most searched app online to download with over 10M queries as well as second most used app in this ranking, losing only to Google. Currently Youtube is banned only in North Korea but it also faces partial bans and content restrictions in China, Thailand, Malaysia and even Germany.

Instagram takes the fourth place with 2 billion monthly users, a billion less than WhatsApp or Facebook. Instagram earned $60.3B dollars in revenue in 2023 and $45B dollars came from the users in the United States. While hugely popular in the US, the app is banned in Vietnam, North Korea, China and Turkey.

Google is fifth in the ranking of the most popular apps banned in other countries, having 1.5B monthly users. The popular search engine has the most users in the ranking, accounting for 276 million monthly users. Google also has the biggest revenue with over $305 billion earned last year. Currently Google is banned only in China.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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