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.
I can’t say that I know much about North Korea’s LGBTQ situation but trying to paint members of China’s LGBTQ community trying to advocate for better treatment as some foreign influence operation is wild.
no, you’re the one trying to paint it queer advancement as foreign influence while this article is clearly pink washing.
not only have you not backed up your assertions, you keep on changing the topic; so it’s become clear that you don’t have anything to offer on the topic other than echoing propaganda.
You’re the one talking about American propaganda and pink washing, while I wanted to focus on what the actual Chinese LGBTQ community feels about the discrimination they face. You seem to be claiming first that it doesn’t exist and now that it’s not the government doing it.
you’re conflating your expectations with reality. this article is propaganda, the chinese queer community feels like they’re on their own and expect discrimination to come from their peers rather than their government and you would know this if you really were on rednote.
I’d rather believe the actual victims of that discrimination I’ve talked to, tbh, than you.
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.