China Draws Backlash As Social Media App WeChat Deletes Several LGBT+ Accounts

With tens of thousands of followers, some of the accounts had served as safe zones for China's LGBTQ youth for years. 

(Representative Image/Getty)

New Delhi: Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app WeChat has recently acted against LGBTQ university students' social media accounts, blocking, and ultimately deleting their accounts without any prior warning. 

The blocked accounts were a mix of authorised student clubs and unofficial grassroots groups. With tens of thousands of followers, some of the accounts had served as safe zones for China's LGBTQ youth for years. 

When trying to access the WeChat accounts, an error message appeared, stating that the content had been restricted and the account had been terminated "after receiving appropriate complaints." According to Reuters, further messages stated that the accounts "violated restrictions on the management of accounts delivering public information services on the Chinese internet." 

The world's largest population of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people lives in China. LGBT individuals in China were a secret and invisible population until a decade ago, with homosexuality being treated as a mental disorder until 2001. But despite the fact that legal persecution against LGBT individuals was removed in 1997, discrimination continues to exist. 

While public acceptance of the LGBTQ community has grown in China, authorities have not kept pace. The authorities have been slowly pressuring China's LGBTQ population for several years, but they have often been greeted with resistance from activists. 

A survey was conducted by the UN Development Programme and Beijing LGBT Center to assess public discrimination against and acceptance of the LGBT community. It included 10,932 participants from 31 Chinese provinces. 

According to the survey's findings, 11.1 percent of heterosexual participants said they could not accept LGBT family members or other cultural bonds. When heterosexual participants were asked if they would accept their own kids being bisexual (25.1 percent), gay (17.5 percent), or transgender (66.8 percent), the rejection percentage was very high.

Furthermore, more than 10% of heterosexual participants opposed being close (in terms of relationships) to LGBT individuals, believing that bisexual (6percent), gay (8.2percent), and transgender (21.9 percent) people should not be permitted to raise children. 

Thus, the subsequent bans have raised concerns about China's growing intolerance of sexual and gender minorities and activism, which has attacked feminist groups and individuals who have sought to challenge this injustice.