CHINA: Gay Dating App Blued Halts New Registrations After Reports Of Underage Users Contracting HIV

Singapore’s Straits Times reports:

Chinese gay dating app Blued is halting new user registration for a week, it said on Sunday (Jan 6), 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.

On Saturday (Jan 5), citing academic research, financial magazine Caixin said juveniles were heavily involved in the gay dating app, where some teenagers had even hosted live streaming. 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.

Blued claims to have 40 million registered users and is financially backed in part by the state-run Beijing News. Grindr is also now fully-owned by a Chinese company.