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China Orders Removal of Popular Gay Dating Apps
Apple removed Blued and Finka from China’s App Store following a regulator order amid increased censorship of LGBTQ+ content, with Blued having 54 million users globally in 2020.
- On November 11, 2025, Apple Inc. removed Blued and Finka from its China storefront after an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, delisting them from the iOS App Store and several Android stores.
- China's regulatory push has in recent years included delisting Grindr in 2022 and new app registration rules, part of a broader tightening on LGBTQ+ expression by China's Communist Party and Chinese regulators.
- Blued and Finka are sizable platforms, with BlueCity acquiring Finka for about $33 million; Blued reported over 49 million registered users and more than 6 million monthly active users in 2020, while users paid up to $20 for secondhand accounts and registrations stopped in July.
- Users and activists warned that the removals shrink safe online spaces, especially outside cosmopolitan areas, and sources say reinstatement is possible only if app developers and platforms comply.
- The takedown underscores tensions between corporate values and access to China, as Apple Inc. defended following local laws amid precedents like Meta's WhatsApp and Threads removals.
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115 Articles
115 Articles
Chinese authorities have ordered the removal of two popular gay dating apps from mobile phone app stores in the country, Apple told AFP on Tuesday.
·Vilnius, Lithuania
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Dating among men is becoming more difficult in China: Google and Apple have taken the Finka and Blued apps out of their app stores – and thus bowed to an order from the Internet agency.
·Germany
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Associated Press News+31 Reposted by 31 other sources
Apple pulls two gay dating apps in China under government order
Apple says it has pulled two popular gay dating apps in China following an order from Chinese authorities in the latest evidence of their tightening grip on the LGBTQ+ community.
·United States
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Total News Sources115
Leaning Left25Leaning Right9Center35Last UpdatedBias Distribution51% Center
Bias Distribution
- 51% of the sources are Center
51% Center
L 36%
C 51%
13%
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