Muslim-Majority Indonesia Rules Google to Pull Gay Dating App From Online Store

11:00 GMT, 31 January 2018

Homosexuality is legal everywhere in Indonesia except for the province of Aceh, which is ruled by Islamic law, however, the LGBT community has been facing a harsh crackdown in the country.

Sputnik

Google has made Blued, the world's largest gay dating app, unavailable for the Indonesian version of its online Play Store in response to Indonesian government's demands, Jakarta's communications ministry spokesman Noor Iza confirmed on Wednesday.

"There was some negative content related to pornography inside the application…. Probably one or some members of the application put the pornographic content inside," Iza said as quoted by AFP.

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Google hasn't yet commented on whether it is going to submit to the government demand and pull 73 other LGBT-related applications from its online store. Government officials also urged Indonesians to avoid apps that do not comply with cultural norms in the country.

LGBT applications ban comes amid an increasing hostility towards the minority in the country. Although same-sex relationships are now permitted by law in Indonesia, the country's parliament is already debating an amendment which could illegalize gay sex and sex outside marriage.