The gay dating app Grindr has disappeared from many app stores in China. (Represent)
Beijing:
Gay-dating app Grindr has disappeared from many app stores in China as authorities tighten control of the country’s already tightly controlled internet and purge online behavior that the Communist Party has banned. rulers do not like.
The country’s cyber regulator is conducting a month-long campaign to crack down on illegal and sensitive content during the Lunar New Year holiday and the Winter Olympics in February.
Although the world’s most populous country phased out homosexuality in 1997, same-sex marriage is illegal and LGBTQ issues remain taboo.
The LGBTQ community is under pressure, with web content being censored and films depicting gay affection banned.
Apple says the developers of Grindr have removed the app from Apple’s Chinese app store.
Data from mobile research firm Qimai showed it was no longer available on Thursday.
Searches for matchmaking apps on Android and similar platforms operated by Chinese companies also yielded no results.
Google Play Store is not available in China.
Grindr did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Local Grindr competitors like Blued are still available for download.
Grindr’s former Chinese owner, Beijing Kunlun Tech, sold the app to investors in 2020 under pressure from US authorities concerned that misuse of the data could pose risks national security risk.
On Tuesday, the cyber regulator announced an effort to crack down on rumors, pornography and other web content.
The campaign aims to “create a civilized, healthy, festive and nice online atmosphere for public opinion during the Lunar New Year,” the government said in a statement.
Last year, social media accounts belonging to LGBTQ rights groups at major universities were blocked from WeChat, China’s dominant messaging and social media app.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
