Gay dating app 'Grindr' pulled from Apple Store in China

The operators of the gay dating app Grindr in the China removed the app from Apple’s App Store in the country, citing difficulties created by the country’s new privacy laws.

The Personal Information Protection Law is a set of regulations that limit personal data stored in apps and requires data transferred in and out of China to be approved by the Chinese government. They went into effect at the end of 2021.

The removal, which occurred on Jan. 27, came days after China’s Cyberspace Administration announced a renewed campaign to censor online content to create a “civilized, healthy, festive and peaceful atmosphere for online public opinion” ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The crackdown targets perceived societal ills like pornography and gambling.

Apple has profited greatly from its close connections to Chinese authorities, reportedly signing a secret $275 billion deal in 2016 to “strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations” and develop its technology and manufacturing sectors in exchange to access to its lucrative market.

However, Apple denied pulling the app to the New York Post, which Grindr confirmed.

Grindr has also disappeared from other app services in China, like those belonging to Tencent and Huawei. Google’s Play Store app market is not available in China. However, China-based competitors, like Blued, remain up.

The dating app joins other internet services, like Yahoo, Microsoft’s LinkedIn and Epic Games’s Fortnite, who have given up on China citing “increasingly challenging business and legal environments.”

China decriminalized homosexuality 25 years ago, but stigma remains. The government announced last September it was banning the portrayal of “sissy men,” gay love and “other abnormal aesthetics” in media. LGBT Rights Advocacy China announced it would suspend operations indefinitely in November amidst a state campaign against “illegal social organization.”