Skype has apparently joined the lengthening list of internet tools on China's blacklist, disappearing from download stores with Apple saying Wednesday it was ordered by the government to remove certain apps.

Skype is no longer available for download from the Chinese Apple Store or popular Android sites, with Chinese web-users saying it had been gone for weeks.

"We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of VoIP (voice over internet protocol) apps do not comply with local law, therefore these apps have been removed from the App Store in China," Apple said in an emailed statement.

"These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business."

The company did not specify which laws such apps were found to have violated.