Apple has reportedly removed two gay dating apps from its App Store in China following an order from Chinese authorities.
According to the technology magazine Wired, Apple said in a statement that it had removed Blued and Finka from the Chinese storefront of the iOS App Store because “we follow the laws in the countries where we operate.”
Newsweek has contacted Apple and the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment on Monday outside office hours.
Why It Matters
Most international LGBTQ+ dating apps are blocked in China, with Grindr removed from Apple’s Chinese App Store in 2022. The reported order to remove two more comes as China’s LGBTQ+ community has increasingly come under pressure and the Chinese Communist Party tightens its control over civil society.
What To Know
Over the weekend, reports emerged of Blued and Finka disappearing from the iOS App Store and several Android app stores, although the apps were functional for users in the country who already had them downloaded, according to Wired.
An Apple spokesperson said in an email that the apps had been removed from the Chinese storefront following an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator, the publication reported.
Apple said the apps had not been available in other countries for some time and that earlier this year, the developer of Finka removed the app from storefronts outside China, while Blued was available only in China.
In July, Blued stopped new user registration, and Chinese users paid up to $20 for secondhand Blued accounts on e-commerce websites before registration resumed in mid-August, according to Wired.
BlueCity, the parent company of Blued, went public in 2020 and said it had over 49 million registered users and over 6 million monthly active users.
The same year, BlueCity acquired Finka for about $33 million. The company delisted in 2022 and was acquired by Newborn Town, a Hong Kong-listed social media firm.
Wired said the removal of two apps was a setback for the Chinese LGBTQ+ community.
The Chinese government decriminalized homosexuality in the 1990s, but it does not recognize same-sex marriage and has increasingly clamped down on the LGBTQ+ community.
Chinese authorities have canceled Pride events, prominent gay rights organizations in China have shut down, and social media companies now frequently censor LGBTQ+ content and accounts.
Artists and activists have also described an increasingly hostile environment for queer expression.
What People Are Saying
An Apple spokesperson told Wired: “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.”
What Happens Next
Previously, some Chinese apps have been able to return to app stores after undergoing changes requested by the Cyberspace Administration of China, Wired reported. So it remains to be seen whether the removal of Blued and Finka in China will be permanent.