This is according to a new study from Linkee.ai that shows the most popular apps banned in multiple countries.
Facebook is the most popular app that is banned in other countries with 3.05 billion monthly users all over the world. It is currently banned in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea among other countries. Despite this, its revenue was still over $130bn 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. Like Facebook, the popular messenger is also banned in China and North Korea. However, it is also not allowed in Syria, Qatar and the UAE. WhatsApp has fewer users in the US with 98 million but it is more searched online than Facebook, gathering over five million 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 10 million queries and the second most used app in this ranking, losing only to Google. YouTube is banned only in North Korea. It faces partial bans and content restrictions in China, Thailand, Malaysia and even Germany.
Instagram takes the fourth place with two billion monthly users, a billion less than WhatsApp or Facebook. Instagram earned $60.3bn in revenue in 2023, with $45bn from users in the US. 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 1.5 billion 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 $305bn earned last year. Currently, Google is banned only in China.
WeChat follows closely with the sixth place and 1.3 billion monthly users. Another popular messaging app in this list, WeChat is banned in India but also faces partial bans in Canada, the UK and New Zealand where it is not allowed on government devices. WeChat has only four million in the US but still brings over $71m in revenue.
TikTok, which can be soon banned in the US, currently takes seventh place in the ranking of the most popular banned apps. TikTok has 170 million users in the US alone and a total of one billion monthly users in the world. The app is banned in India and has partial bans in Nepal, New Zealand, Taiwan and Indonesia.
Spotify holds eighth place with 602 million monthly users. The popular music service has 100 million users in the US. It is the third most-sought online app with over six million people searching for it monthly, coming in behind only YouTube and Instagram. Spotify is banned in quite a few countries, including China, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Venezuela.
X (Twitter) is ninth, gathering over 335 million users monthly, three times less than TikTok. The social media app is banned in China, Russia and Turkmenistan among other countries. Currently, Twitter has 76 million users in the US and earned $1.75bn in 2023, more than Spotify.
The only game on the list, PUBG Mobile closes the ranking in tenth place. It has 30 million monthly users and earned $1.1bn in revenue last year. PUBG Mobile is banned in India and was banned for some time in Nepal, Pakistan and China.
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.
