Chinese LGBT community slam popular social app for banning same-sex content
(Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
LGBT people in China have slammed a popular social media app, Weibo, for banning LGBT content from the platform.
The social media site has characteristics of Facebook and Twitter and around one-third of Chinese people use it.
The micro-blogging platform has cracked down on videos which feature same-sex couples by censoring them leaving users upset.
It came after authorities in the country announced intentions to ban LGBT content from the internet.
The regulations, which blocks any portrayal of “abnormal” relations between two people of the same-sex, came into play at the start of July.
The ban has not only been slapped on sexually explicit content but also more mild depictions of same-sex couples whether it’s in a positive or negative light.
People have been voicing their frustrations with the ban on the platform.
One person wrote: “Aren’t people born equal? What right do you have to discriminate against others?”
Another added: “Aren’t homosexuals normal? Why do you push them to a corner?”
The closure of Weibo comes after popular same-sex dating apps had been shut down.
Lesbian dating app Rela, which had more than five million users, was taken offline.
As well as its app and website, Rela has also had its page taken down from Weibo.
The moves have quashed the growing optimism that was felt amongst the LGBT community after the high court in Taiwan ordered its Parliament to legalise same-sex marriage.
This is not the first time China has tried to block access to LGBT content.
Last year the Chinese Government attempted to ban portrayals of homosexuality on television.
Calling the portrayals “immoral, vulgar and unhealthy”, homosexuality was banned alongside smoking, drinking alcohol, suggestive clothing and the idea of reincarnation.
