China’s Tinder removed from app stores amid government crackdown on cyberspace

Tantan, a popular Tinder-like dating app in China, has been suspended from multiple app stores in the country amid an ongoing government effort to clean up content in cyberspace.

The suspension was “on direction of governmental authorities in China”, Tantan parent company Momo said in a statement, without elaborating on the reason of the removal or a timeline for restoration. Tantan, however, is still available for download on Apple’s online App Store in China.

The Tantan app is currently China’s biggest dating platform, with 90 million registered users and six million daily active users, according to Chinese tech news site 36kr.

Nasdaq-listed Momo said it was “proactively communicating with the relevant government authorities and intends to fully cooperate with such authorities in order to restore the availability of Tantan … as soon as possible,” according to the company’s statement. Momo said it will also conduct a comprehensive internal review of the content on Tantan “to stay in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations”.

Momo, whose popular location-based hook-up app whose has morphed into a hybrid platform with live streaming and social media features, acquired competitor Tantan in February last year for an estimated US$760 million. The Beijing-based company expected Tantan to become a new growth engine because their respective subscribers are complementary.