Flag of China and LGBT rainbow flag<\/p>\n
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Apple<\/a> has confirmed that it has removed two popular gay dating apps from its Chinese iOS Store, following an order from Beijing’s main internet regulator and censorship authority.<\/p>\n It comes following reports of the apps \u2014 Blued and Finka \u2014 suddenly disappearing from the iOS App Store over the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement shared with CNBC, Apple confirmed that it was behind the action and defended the company’s position, stating that it must follow the laws of the countries where it operates.<\/p>\n “Based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, we have removed these two apps from the China storefront only,” the company said, though they clarified that the apps had already been unavailable in other countries.<\/p>\n However, a “lite” version of the Blued app is still available for download on the China App Store, CNBC confirmed Tuesday. <\/p>\n The Wire had been the first to report <\/a>that Apple had made the move at Beijing’s order.<\/p>\n The disappearance of Blued and Finka is the latest example of China’s crackdown on app stores in recent years.<\/p>\n Grindr, a popular gay dating app from the U.S., was removed from the iOS store<\/a> in 2022, days after the Cyberspace Administration of China began a crackdown on content it considered illegal and inappropriate.\u00a0<\/p>\n