Two of China’s most popular gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, have been removed from the country’s Apple and Android app stores.
It follows a takedown notice from the Cyberspace Administration, the country’s online regulator and censor.
In recent years, the Chinese Government has made several moves to crack down on LGBTQIA+ groups and online content.
Context
Blued was founded in China in 2012 and is one of the world’s largest gay dating apps, with millions of users globally. It is called HeeSay internationally.
Finka is another popular dating platform used mainly by gay and bisexual men. It is only available in China.
Blued’s parent company BlueCity acquired Finka in 2020. At the time of acquisition, Finka had 2.7 million users.
Both apps rose in popularity after gay dating app Grindr was made unavailable in China in 2022 over failure to comply with privacy laws.
China decriminalised homosexuality in 1997.
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The local LGBTQIA+ community has faced increasing government crackdowns in recent years.
Shanghai Pride, the country’s longest-running pride celebration, ended in 2020. The following year, dozens of accounts owned by LGBTQIA+ university groups were blocked from WeChat.
In 2023, Beijing’s LGBT Centre shut down, citing “forces beyond our control”.
Takedown
In a statement to Wired, Apple said: “We follow the laws in the countries where we operate. Based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, we have removed these two apps from the China storefront only.”
The apps have also disappeared from Android platforms in China.
Users who already had the apps installed can still use them, but no new users can download them.
Chinese authorities have not provided an explanation for the removal.
