Malaysian government's 'gay conversion' app pulled by Google Play

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Malaysian government’s ‘gay conversion’ app pulled by Google Play

App claimed that it could help LGBT+ people ‘return to nature’ but the tech company has now made it unavailable for downloads

Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent
Thu 17 Mar 2022 06.11 GMT

An app produced by the Malaysian government that promised to help the LGBTI community “return to nature” has been removed from the Google Play store, after it was found to be in breach of the platform’s guidelines.

The app was first released in July 2016, but attracted fresh attention after it was shared on Twitter by the Malaysian government’s Islamic development department. It claimed the app would enable LGBTI people to return to a state of nature or purity, and that it included an e-book detailing the experience of a gay man who “abandoned homosexual behaviour” during Ramadan.

When approached by the Guardian, Google said in a statement: “Whenever an app is flagged to us, we investigate against our Play store policies and if violations are found we take appropriate action to maintain a trusted experience for all.”

The app has since been removed from the Play store. Its guidelines do not allow apps “that attempt to deceive users or enable dishonest behavior including but not limited to apps which are determined to be functionally impossible.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/malaysian-governments-gay-conversion-app-pulled-by-google-play