This Christian Prayer App May Be Banned in Europe
By Movieguide® Contributor
Hallow CEO Alex Jones shared disturbing news on social media, revealing that his app was fully blocked in China with a ban appearing imminent in Europe.
“China shut us down by outright removing us from the App Store,” Jones wrote on X. “The EU is is shutting us down by over-regulation, apparently targeting any religious app, making it effectively impossible for us to operate in the EU. Honestly, pretty heartbreaking — was just talking with the team about building out our Polish/French/Italian/German content and teams, but if this is right, will be essentially impossible.”
This news is incredibly disappointing as, before now, Hallow has had a truly worldwide reach with over 22 million downloads and 100 million prayers since launching in 2018. The difficulties in Europe likely stem from the Digital Services Act, which went into effect in 2023. Part of the act restricts platforms from handling sensitive data, such as a user’s religious beliefs, without receiving explicit consent, per Christian Post.
READ MORE: PRAYER APP ‘HALLOW’ SURPASSES 100 MILLION PRAYERS WORLDWIDE
The app offers users dozens of guided prayer areas along with daily and seasonal prayers and devotionals. Though the app is largely aimed at Catholics, the Hallow team ensures that people from all faith backgrounds can benefit from the app.
“We work closely with leaders of the Catholic Church to make sure all of the content in Hallow is always 100% in line with Church teaching,” Hallow explains on its website. “However, we also hope that Hallow can be a resource for help those of all faith backgrounds regardless of denomination. We have many non-Catholics who use the app and have found it fruitful.”
The app has also found popularity through partnerships with actors of faith, such as Jonathan Roumie, Mark Wahlberg and Liam Neeson. The app has also worked hard to be as accessible as possible, working with many colleges in the U.S. to provide its services to students for free. The app even promoted itself through a Super Bowl ad last year, helping it further reach millions of Americans.
Hopefully Hallow will find a way to move forward within the EU, rather than being blocked, causing millions of Christians to lose access to such a helpful tool.
READ MORE: HALLOW IS FIRST RELIGIOUS APP TO HIT #1 ON APPLE’S APP STORE
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