Gay courting app Grindr disappears from China app shops

Gay courting app Grindr has disappeared from a number of app shops in China as authorities tighten management of the nation’s already closely policed web and purge on-line behaviour the ruling Communist Party dislikes.

The nation’s cyber authority is conducting a month-long marketing campaign to root out unlawful and delicate content material through the Lunar New Year vacation and February’s Winter Olympics.

Although the world’s most populous nation decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, same-sex marriage is illegitimate and LGBTQ points stay taboo.

The LGBTQ group is beneath stress, with net content material censored and depictions of homosexual romance in movies banned.

Apple says Grindr’s builders eliminated the app from Apple’s China App retailer.

Data from cellular analysis agency Qimai exhibits it was not accessible on Thursday.

Searches for the matchmaking app on Android and comparable platforms operated by Chinese corporations additionally returned no outcomes.

Google’s Play Store shouldn’t be accessible in China.

Grindr didn’t reply to an AFP request for remark.

Local Grindr rivals resembling Blued stay accessible for obtain.

The Chinese former proprietor of Grindr, Beijing Kunlun Tech, offered the app to traders in 2020 beneath stress from US authorities involved that the potential misuse of its information may current nationwide safety dangers.

On Tuesday, the our on-line world administration introduced a drive to crack down on rumours, pornography and different web content.

The marketing campaign goals to “create a civilised, wholesome, festive and auspicious on-line environment for public opinion through the Lunar New Year”, the administration mentioned in an announcement.

Last yr, social media accounts belonging to main college LGBTQ rights teams had been blocked from WeChat, China’s dominant messaging and social media app.

© 2022 AFP