Gay dating app 'Grindr' disappears from multiple app stores in China

Beijing: Grindr, the popular gay dating app has vanished from several app stores in China as authorities tighten grip over the country's already heavily policed internet and remove online activities the ruling Communist Party dislikes, NDTV reported.

The country's cyber authority is undertaking a month-long drive to weed out illicit and sensitive content online during the Lunar New Year holiday and February's Winter Olympics.

Although the country decriminalized homosexuality in 1997, same-sex marriage is still illegal and LGBTQ issues remain taboo.

The LGBTQ community remains under pressure, with online content censored and depiction of gay romance in movies prohibited.

Apple says Grindr's developers took down the app from the company's China App store.

Data from mobile research company Qimai shows it was no longer available on Thursday.

Searches for the dating app on Android and similar platforms run by Chinese firm also returned no results.

Google's Play Store is not available in China.

However, local competitors of Grindr such as Blued remain available for download.

Beijing Kunlun Tech, the Chinese ex owner of Grindr, sold the platform to investors in 2020 under pressure from US authorities concerned that the potential misuse of its data could pose national security risks.

On Tuesday, the cyberspace administration declared a campaign to crack down on pornography, rumours and other web content.

The drive aims to "create a civilised, healthy, festive and auspicious online atmosphere for public opinion during the Lunar New Year", the administration said in a statement.

Last year, social media profiles belonging to major university LGBTQ rights groups were blocked from WeChat, China's top messaging and social media app.