Google has been forced to remove one of the world’s largest dating apps for gay and bisexual men from the Indonesian version of its store.
As part of a wider crackdown on the LGBTQ community in the country, officials called for the tech giant to take down 73 LGBTQ-related applications from the Google Play Store.
Communications ministry spokesman Noor Iza confirmed that gay dating application Blued will no longer be available in the Google Play Store for Indonesian users as part of the crackdown.
“There was some negative content related to pornography inside the application,” Iza told AFP.
“Probably one or some members of the application put the pornographic content inside.”
Blued is used by 27 million people globally.
While Google has taken down Blued from its store in Indonesia, Apple have so far resisted taking the app down from their online store.
Homosexuality and same-sex relations are legal in most of Indonesia, save for the ultra conservative Aceh province which is ruled by Islamic law.
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However, LGBTQ relationships are largely disapproved of by society – particularly public displays of affection between same-sex couples.
Earlier this month, Indonesia’s Air Force came under fire for stating LGBTQ people can’t serve in the armed forces because of a “mental disorder.”
The controversial statement stemmed from their Air Force’s Twitter account (@_TNIAU), tweeting that soldiers were forbidden from committing immoral acts, which resulted in user RatnaPurba (@ratpruba) questioning: “What about the LGBT?”
They responded: “There is a mental health test in the selection process. LGBT is included as a mental disorder. If there are still many candidate soldiers who are mentally healthy, then why should unhealthy ones be accepted?”
In December, an Indonesian court ruled that 10 men will be sent to prison after being arrested during a raid at a gay club and sauna earlier last May.
During the raid, 140 men were detained by police at the Atlantis spa in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on suspicion of participating in a sex party at the venue.
The men were detained and tried under anti-pornography laws, and have now been found guilty, according to an activist and relative of one of the men.
Those charged include two visitors to the spa, who police allege performed oral sex.
Several employees including managers, a gym trainer, a security guard and a stripper make up the other eight men who have been charged.
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