LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance took another hit in China when Apple removed two of the country’s biggest LGBTQ+ dating apps. cabling Information that Blued and Finka are no longer available on the iOS App Store and some Android app stores by order of the Cyberspace Administration of China, the national Internet regulatory and censorship agency.
said apple cabling that “it must respect the laws of the countries in which we operate.” Both dating apps were only available in China, where there are few LGBTQ+ dating apps: Grindr, for example, has been unavailable on Apple since 2022. Blued is available internationally under the name HeeSay.
In recent years, China has increasingly cracked down on the rights of LGBTQ+ people and groups. probably closure of large organizations as Beijing LGBT Center 2023. For unknown reasons, Blued stopped new registrations last July from people who bought used accounts to use the app. However, it reopened in mid-August.
sBlued and Finka share a parent company, BlueCity, which in turn is owned by Newborn Town. BlueCity is also actively involved in the healthcare field, with a non-profit organization specifically dedicated to the prevention and treatment of diseases such as HIV/AIDS.