this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2025
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The fact that only two apps were removed has me suspecting there may be a reason other than them being LGBT. Obviously it's possible they left up other apps so that they could point to them and say they aren't being homophobic, but I'm not sure that's the case.
One Chinese-language article speculated that the reason for the removal is that these are social media apps which don't have real-name authentication. (https://www.bluezz.net/2025/11/09/50291.html)
According to another it was announced in September that there would be a crackdown on social media in general. (https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20251111-%E8%8B%B9%E6%9E%9C%E8%AF%81%E5%AE%9E-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E8%A6%81%E6%B1%82%E4%B8%8B%E6%9E%B6%E4%B8%A4%E6%AC%BE%E9%A3%8E%E8%A1%8C%E7%9A%84%E7%94%B7%E5%90%8C%E7%BA%A6%E4%BC%9Aapp)
A CNN article says that "compliance issues" and "vulgar content" are the reason. For context, steamy makeout scenes are not allowed on Chinese TV, and I imagine saucy selfies could be considered a violation. (https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/china/china-gay-dating-apps-removed-intl-hnk)
While I'm not trying to argue that China is a super cool supportive place for queer people, I am open to the idea that this has nothing to do with it, and that Western media is very happy to have anything negative to report about China.