After Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities claimed they would consider restricting the use of the mainland navigation app Amap, citing so-called security concerns after the app began displaying traffic light countdowns in Taiwan, downloads of the app surged on both iOS and Android and at one point topped the download chart, according to Taiwan regional media.

Some netizens on the island mocked the episode as a case of "reverse promotion," saying that apps the authorities consider banning only seem to become more popular. They also questioned whether the authorities only know how to ban popular and useful apps, citing the previous ban on mainland's app Xiaohongshu.

A new feature launched in April by the mainland navigation app Amap, which displays traffic light countdowns in Taiwan, has sparked discussion on the island in recent days. Liu Shih-fang, head of Taiwan's internal affairs body, addressed the issue in an interview on Thursday, claiming that the authorities would conduct a risk assessment. If they determine that the app has a major impact on Taiwan's "security," and will ban it," she claimed, according to Taiwan regional media CNA.

Earlier, head of Taiwan's digital affairs department Lin Yi-jing said on April 22 that the authorities may restrict the use of Amap if they find that user data is being transmitted back to the mainland and poses "security concerns." In that case, the region's government agencies would be required to stop using the app, while the public would also be urged to avoid it, according to CTi News.

According to a report by Taiwan regional media outlet TVBS, Taiwan's "defense" chief Koo Li-hsiung announced on Thursday that an order had been issued to all military personnel banning the download and use of Amap on both official and personal mobile phones.

Despite the regional authorities' hype over Amap and their consideration of a possible ban, downloads of the app surged. According to CTi News, on Thursday, Amap had once climbed to No. 1 on the iOS app download chart and ranked third on Android. Many netizens left comments saying they had already downloaded the app. Some said they did not know how useful it was until they tried it, while others praised its navigation voice. Some netizens also admitted they had not heard of the app before, but wanted to download and try it after seeing the news, per CTi News.

Other Taiwan regional media also covered the issue. For example, TVBS News ran a headline saying that the more Amap is targeted for restrictions, the more popular it becomes, noting that the app had topped the App Store download chart. Meanwhile, SETN covered the episode with the headline questioning whether this is the officials' unexpected "assist."

Taiwan regional internet influencer Cheap described the episode on Facebook as "a historic moment," saying head of Taiwan's digital affairs department had intended to warn the public about security concerns, but instead triggered island-wide curiosity about the mainland navigation app Amap. Cheap mocked the episode as the digital affairs department's most impressive "digital transformation" achievement since its establishment.

Cheap also noted that Amap already had 45,000 ratings on iOS, suggesting that Taiwan had long had a group of loyal "experienced driver" users. The latest official attention, he said, only prompted more people who had been originally using Google Maps to take a closer look.

Netizens also shared their user experiences on social media, with some criticizing the regional authorities as "useless and incompetent, weaker than others in every way," and saying they "only know how to ban others' products."

The Facebook account "ENews" wrote: "Is this the strongest 'reverse promotion' in history? Right after the authorities raised concerns and said they were preparing to 'study a possible ban' on a certain navigation app, the very next moment... it shot straight to the top of Taiwan's download charts on both platforms."

While netizen "wengjiaze6" wrote that "Amap may be banned?? Better download it quickly and try it out! It's actually pretty good!" Netizen "yijie6084" wrote on Threads that "Xiaohongshu, Amap — what will be next? The more popular it gets, the more likely it is to be banned, right?"

In December 2025, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities imposed a one-year ban on Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, a mainland app with more than 3 million users in Taiwan, citing so-called cybersecurity concerns, drawing criticism on the island.

In response to an inquiry from the Global Times on Wednesday, Amap said that its traffic-light countdown feature was launched in Taiwan Province, China, on April 13. In July 2025, the company also introduced lane-level navigation in Taiwan Province. Users are welcome to try these features.

"In essence, what the DPP authorities cannot tolerate is not a single app, but cross-Straits exchange itself. Apps such as Amap and Xiaohongshu have made daily life more convenient for Taiwan residents and given them a clearer sense of the mainland's technological progress, which is exactly why the DPP authorities feel uneasy," Yu Qiang, head of the cross-Straits development research center of the Beijing Technology and Business University, told the Global Times.

"Cross-Straits economies are highly complementary. Rejecting deeper cooperation for political reasons means passing up opportunities for development and, in the end, hurting the people on the island," said Yu.

In response to Taiwan's digital affairs department previously proposing a list of apps deemed to pose high cybersecurity risks, including Douyin, Weibo, WeChat and Xiaohongshu, Zhang Han, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a press conference in January that the DPP authorities have malicious intentions in hyping so-called "cybersecurity risks" related to mainland apps.

The DPP authorities are depriving Taiwan residents', especially the young generations', right to information and freedom to use social media platforms, blocking channels of cross-Straits exchanges, and deliberately inciting so-called "resisting mainland, protecting Taiwan." This only reveals their inner fear and "insecurity," Zhang said.

The DPP authorities' reckless actions will only backfire, Zhang said, adding that their retrogressive moves cannot stop the growing trend among Taiwan people, especially young people, to better understand the mainland and build closer bonds with their compatriots on the mainland.