“Clean-up campaign” against illegal and sensitive content
China bans dating app Grindr from its app stores
The dating app “Grindr” is particularly popular in the queer community.
© Christoph Dernbach / DPA
The app Grindr, popular with the LGBTQ community, has disappeared from the Chinese app stores. At the same time, the competent authority announced a campaign to take action against “illegal content” on the Internet.
Just before the start of the Winter Olympics, the dating app Grindr disappeared from several app stores in China. According to the US company Apple, the developers of Grindr themselves removed the app from the Chinese app store. The app was also no longer available for other operating systems such as Android. On Tuesday, the Chinese Cyberspace Authority announced a campaign to crack down on rumours, pornography and other illegal or sensitive content online.
China: Grindr disappears from app stores – LGBTQ community under pressure
The LGBTQ community in China is under pressure from the authorities. Web content is censored and depictions of gay romance in movies are banned. Although the world’s most populous country decriminalized homosexuality in 1997, same-sex marriage is illegal and LGBTQ issues remain taboo.
Data from market research company Qimai shows that Grindr was no longer available from Apple as of Thursday. However, local Grindr competitors like Blued are still available for download. Grindr did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
The app was even in Chinese hands until 2020: At that time, owner Beijing Kunlun Tech sold the app to investors in 2020 under pressure from the US authorities. They had feared that the possible misuse of the data could pose a risk to national security.
Authorities want “civilized, healthy online atmosphere”
The online clean-up campaign announced at the start of the Chinese New Year aims to “create a civilized, healthy, festive and auspicious online atmosphere for public opinion during the Chinese New Year,” according to the authorities.
Last year, major university LGBTQ rights groups’ accounts on Wechat, China’s dominant news app, were suspended in a similar operation.