Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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App Allowing Chinese Citizens to Access Global Internet Quickly Disappears

Adam Xu

   WASHINGTON - A mobile app launched last week in China that many there
   hoped would allow access to long banned Western social media sites
   abruptly disappeared from Chinese app stores a day after its unveiling.

   Tuber, an Andriod app backed by Chinese cyber security software giant
   Qihoo 360, first appeared to be officially available last Friday. It
   offered Chinese citizens limited access to websites such as YouTube,
   Facebook and Google, and it facilitated some 5 million downloads
   following its debut.

   Yet a day later, the Tuber app disappeared from mobile app stores,
   including one run by Huawei Technologies Co. A search for the app's
   website yielded no results when VOA checked Monday. It's unclear
   whether the government ordered the takedown of the app.

   Experts told VOA that such ventures are sometimes designed to create
   the illusion of choice to users eager to gain access to the global
   internet, but these circumvention tools are sometimes deleted if they
   are deemed by the Chinese government to be too popular with consumers.

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