Two of China’s most popular gay-dating apps have disappeared from app stores in the country, reinforcing fears of a widening crackdown on LGBTQ+ groups and online content.
Blued and Finka were not available on Apple’s App Store as of Tuesday and the apps had been erased from locally adapted platforms that serve Android devices.
The Google Play Store app is blocked in China as part of the government’s vast censorship apparatus known as the “Great Firewall.”
China operates one of the world’s most extensive online censorship and surveillance regimes, which scrubs political dissent and criticism of the ruling Communist Party’s leadership and ideologies, including a drive against feminine portrayals of men in pop culture.
China’s LGBTQ+ community has faced an intensifying crackdown since Xi Jinping came to power more than a decade ago. Authorities have ramped up control over what they consider the undue influence of Western values, with Pride parades canceled, films and TV shows featuring same-sex themes banned, and China’s most popular messaging app WeChat shutting down dozens of LGBTQ+ accounts.
There has been no official announcement about the apps’ removal in China, where regulators routinely take down content without explanation. But a source familiar with the matter told CNN that it appeared to be related to compliance issues.
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Employing the casual hyperbole of his presidential idol, the “Chinese Trump” gave our interview a 67 out of 10.
He said it calmly. Cheerfully. With absolute confidence. Like people do when they’re standing in a megacity with fans seemingly on every street corner.
Here in Chongqing, southwestern China, population 32 million, business manager Ryan Chen has mastered an impression so uncanny that strangers stop eating lunch to look up, mid-bite, when they hear his voice.
As we moved through the crowded, fog-rimmed October streets, the same day as Trump’s long-anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, Chen’s fame became apparent.
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In a significant move aimed at reducing the US’ naval supremacy, Beijing launched the Fujian, its latest and most capable aircraft carrier yet. The carrier features electromagnetic catapults capable of launching three aircraft types, according to Chinese media, though US military experts have told CNN that the vessel may face configuration constraints. Chinese leader Xi attended its commissioning ceremony at a military port in Sanya on Hainan island.
While the country’s space ambitions suffered a star-crossed setback with a debris impact that delayed the return of three astronauts to Earth, those in orbit found a way to keep spirits up: having the first-ever BBQ in space.
Back on Earth, a cafe chain became the latest business to ruffle the Chinese Communist Party’s feathers. The chain was roasted for using the name “People’s Coffee,” deploying a prefix that state media said “carries a distinct public character and profound political connotations.” The chain was forced to apologize and change its name.
The dramatic collapse of a bridge in Sichuan province was caught on camera. Landslides were the cause, according to state news agency Xinhua, which cited officials, adding that no one was injured.
Meanwhile, a robot unveiled by Chinese EV giant XPeng moved so much like a real person that the company had to release a video to prove that it’s in fact a machine.
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Zhao, who gave only his surname for fear of reprisal for speaking out, spoke to CNN about the impact on China’s LGBQT+ community after two popular gay-dating apps were removed from app stores in the country. |
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Just weeks after US President Donald Trump oversaw the signing of a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, the accord has hit a roadblock. -
More than a million residents were evacuated as a second typhoon in a week slammed into the Philippines, triggering floods and power shortages.
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This man was once a US-backed dictator whose regime oversaw bloody Cold War-era massacres in Indonesia. Why is he being named a national hero?
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India is on edge after a deadly car explosion rocked a historic part of its capital region, killing multiple people.
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Traveling from London or New York to Australia’s main cities used to be a week-long quest. But last week, Qantas unveiled “Project Sunrise” aircraft that can stay in the air for up to 22 hours and ferry passengers to the global destinations.
While adoring thousands gathered outside Shah Rukh Khan’s home to worship a film deity on his 60th birthday, they may also be witnessing the twilight of India’s cinematic gods.
Finally, how a glistening cabbage sculpture has become a star attraction at Taipei’s National Palace Museum. |
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