Dating platform Grindr has reportedly vanished from multiple app stores in China, as the country tightens down on online content ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kicks off today (4 February).

A top Chinese cyber watchdog has been on a campaign this year to remove sensitive content from China’s internet ahead of the event and the Lunar New Year holiday.

Grindr’s removal began last week, two days after the Cyberspace Administration of China made a statement that it would renew its campaign.

The watchdog has been removing what it considers to be illegal and inappropriate content, such as online rumors, pornography and superstitions, while punishing accounts that violate the law. This is to help ensure a “healthy, festive and auspicious online environment” during the Lunar New Year, NBC reports.

According to data from mobile research firm Qimai, Grindr was no longer available from Apple’s China app store on Thursday 27 January. Searches on Android and similar stores also turned up no results, while Google’s Play Store is unavailable in the country, the Guardian reports.

Homosexuality was decriminilised in China in 1997, but same-sex marriage is still prohibited and it is reported that homsexuality remains a taboo subject in the country. According to the Guardian, China’s LGBTQ community faces pressure with censored web content and depictions of gay romance in films being banned.

The tech industry has been feeling the wrath of more stringent Chinese regulation over the past year. Days after tech company Alibaba was hit with a $2.8bn fine, its fintech affiliate Ant Group agreed to restructure as a financial holding company.

Last April, thirteen of China’s biggest tech companies were ordered by officials to follow stricter finance rules as Chinese authorities took a deeper look at the wider fintech and financial services space. Then in July, Chinese regulators demanded the ride-hailing app Didi be removed from app stores, days after a successful IPO launch in New York.

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