Chinese gay dating app Blued halts registration after underage HIV report
- Financial magazine Caixin reported many gay teenagers had unprotected sex through the app and contracted HIV
Chinese gay dating app Blued is halting new user registration for a week, it said on Sunday, following media reports that underage users caught HIV after going on dates set up via the world’s largest networking app for the LGBT community.
China has a vibrant lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender scene (LGBT) scene, though activists say conservative attitudes among some groups in society have prompted occasional government clampdowns.
On Saturday, citing academic research, financial magazine Caixin said juveniles were heavily involved in the gay dating app, where some teenagers had even hosted livestreaming.
It added that many gay teenagers had unprotected sex through the app and contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
In response, Blued vowed to launch a “comprehensive content audit and regulation,” and crack down on juvenile users posing as adults and on texts, pictures and groups that involve minors.