China removes gay dating apps Blued and Finka from Apple App Store
Two gay dating apps in China have been removed from app stores as part of a broader crackdown on LGBTQ-related content and activities.
The apps Finka and Blued, which were two of China's most popular apps for LGBTQ+ people to get acquainted, were unavailable as of Tuesday on Apple's store platform and Android, News.Az reports citing the BBC.
But reports indicated the apps were still available for users who had already downloaded them, and on their official websites.
"We follow the laws in the countries where we operate," according to Apple.
Meanwhile, Blued and Finka have yet to comment.
In 2020, Finka was bought out by Blued's parent company. Blued, founded in China in 2012, has more than 40 million global users, primarily gay men.
It now joins other apps like Grindr, Tinder, Facebook and Instagram as banned by Chinese authorities.
In China, homosexuality is no longer a crime. But it still faces strong stigma. Attempts to reverse decades of progress pushed large parts of Chinese LGBTQ society to the underground.
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