Podcast player app Pocket Casts appeared to fall victim to Chinese censorship, with Apple dropping it from the App Store in the country following a request by the internet regulator.

In a Twitter post, Pocket Casts said Apple removed its service at the behest of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

The developer said it received no explanation regarding CAC’s motivation, but The Verge reported authorities found the app provided access to illegal content.

Pocket Casts defended the podcast concept, stating it “is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship”. It pledged never to moderate content based on official requests, even though this means the service is unlikely to be restored in China.

This is “a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special”, it argued.

It is the second podcast dropped from the App Store in China this month, following the removal of Castro last week.

On Twitter, the developer explained it believes it was targeted because the service appeared to support protest movements, though noted it received no official explanation from Apple.