Last Monday, numerous reports of WeChat permanent bans of public accounts created and run by LGBT+ groups at Chinese colleges have emerged amid shock.
WeChat has deleted more than a dozen LGBT accounts run by university students, sparking fears that safe spaces for China's sexual and gender minorities are going to shrink even further.https://t.co/B7LodjKYjs
— sinbad (@sinbad_W) July 8, 2021
Followers of accounts created on government-sponsored and controlled platforms in a country that bans Western-made counterparts such as Whatsapp have expressed their frustration as Chinese authorities seem to have decided to crackdown on the country's LGBTQ+ online community.
Apps have cited "violations of community rules" as the main reason they shut down these groups.
For years, China has blocked access to Whatsapp and other American-made social media platforms, offering its over 1.5 billion population other locally-developed alternatives. However, these Chinese apps have always been under direct censorship and control by the Chinese government.
China divided as WeChat deletes LGBT accounts from platform Dozens of LGBT social media accounts run by university students,were deleted without explanation.
— Rivmark (@RivmarkM) July 8, 2021
from BBC News - Technology https://t.co/HG66a4NSC2https://t.co/k90FJCjrJX
Online, activists expressed their surprise at the crackdown, especially that some have reported similar actions against feminist groups as well.
For many years, China has been praised for its relative tolerance towards LGBTQ+ communities, as opposed to other Asian countries that still penalize same-sex relationships. However, this new development that comes only days after the country celebrated the 100-years anniversary of the ruling Communist Party, hints at a change in the government's policies towards them.
Meanwhile, no official statements have yet commented on the matter.
