Apple Yanks Anti-Vax version of Tinder from the App Store

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Photo: Johannes Eisel/AFP (Getty Images)

Apple has pulled the Unjected app, which describes itself as “a safe space for the unsupervised to meet unsupervised through work, friendship or love,” from the App Store. The company said Unjected violated covid-19 policies and attempted to circumvent the App Store review process, which itself is against Apple’s guidelines.

Apple took action against Unjected after it was contacted by Bloomberg. The outlet published a report on Unjected on Saturday that analyzed how Apple and Google handled misinformation about the covid-19 vaccine provided on the app. In an email, Apple confirmed the removal of Gizmodo on Saturday.

Google warned the founders of Unjected about disinformation in the app’s recently debuted social feed — which included false user-generated claims that said vaccines were “experimental mRNA genetic modifiers” and “nanotechnology microchips” — in mid-July and threatened to remove them. If the content is not deleted. The founders complied and removed the social feed, though one told Bloomberg that they intended to bring it back and the false claims, hoping to “stay under the radar.” The app is still available on the Play Store.

In response to the actions taken by Apple and Google, Unjected emailed Gizmodo the following response.

“The only statement we have is that we are a respected group of people who support their medical independence and freedom of choice, and that we believe the unfair censorship policy of google and apple [sic] “It violates our constitutional rights,” Unjected said.

G/O Media may get commission

Gizmodo has reached out to Google for comment on the report, but we have not received a response by the time of publication. We will make sure to update this blog if we do.

Similar to apps like Tinder, Unjected allows people to create a profile, match, and chat with others to find friendship and romance. As Bloomberg explained, “Tinder for anti-vaccination” was launched in May after mainstream dating apps teamed up with the White House to encourage users to get vaccinated. Users who claimed to have received the vaccination received vision boosts for their profiles and a special vaccination badge.

Uninjected covers more than just love, though. It even allows people to find companies and services that align with their users’ opinions on covid-19 vaccines.

Shelby Thompson, one of the founders of the app, told Yahoo in June.

The uninjected also targets people who have been vaccinated against covid-19. In its description of the Google Play Store, the app erroneously claims that some people have experienced “adverse events after being vaccinated”.

Apple made it clear to Gizmodo that the App Store prioritizes safety and security in all areas, including covid-19. The company revealed that the Unjected app was originally rejected from the App Store during the review process for violating Apple’s rules on covid-19 – which require all virus-related apps to provide reliable health and safety information from trusted sources, such as government agencies and medical institutions – but was approved. them later after the developers made changes. However, Apple said that since then, external developer data for its users and app updates have led to breaches again.

Apple also noted that a co-founder of Unjected told users to avoid using words like “vaccine,” “japid” or “microchip” in order to fly under the company’s auditors’ radar. Apple said this is a violation of its guidelines, which warn developers that if they try to trick the system, their app will be pulled from the App Store.

At a time when 76.05% of the country is experiencing high or significant levels of community transmission in light of low vaccination rates and the prevalence of the highly contagious delta variant, we need to promote the scientific facts and benefits of vaccines as much as we can. Apps that encourage people to believe lies about covid-19 vaccines, and that prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death, have no place in our battle against the virus.

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