Blued and Finka were removed from Apple’s App Store.
LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance have taken another hit in China, with Apple removing two of the countries biggest LGBTQ+ dating apps. Wired reports that Blued and Finka are no longer available on the iOS App Store or certain Android App Stores following orders from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator and censor.
Apple told Wired that it must “follow the laws in the countries where we operate.” Both dating apps were available solely in China, where LGBTQ+ dating apps are minimal — Grindr, for instance, hasn’t been available on Apple since 2022. Blued exists internationally under the name HeeSay.
China has increasingly cracked down on LGBTQ+ individuals’ rights and groups in recent years, allegedly shuttering large organizations like the Beijing LGBT Center in 2023. For reasons unknown, Blued previously stopped new registrations this past July, with individuals buying second-hand accounts to use the app. However, it reopened in the middle of August.
the problem is that you’re not talking to them; you’re taking in a propagandized version of them that are getting paid to say those things.
I’m sure these regular people I’m talking to are secretly CIA because they complain about the discrimination lol
you’re not talking to anyone and the real funny part is that my gov’t has admitted several times publicly that they do this, but people like you still believe it’s a conspiracy theory.
So the people I know don’t exist but they’re also CIA spies. I guess that’s easier for you to stomach than the idea that China doesn’t treat their minorities well.