Google removes Malaysian govt app that claimed to return LGBTQ folks to ‘right path’
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
An app developed by the Malaysian government that claimed to help members of the LGBTQIA+ community “return to the right path” has been taken down by Google for violating the platform's guidelines.First released in 2016, the gay conversion app 'Hijrah Diri' landed in hot water after being endorsed by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department a couple of days ago. Now, six years since its launch, it has been removed from the Google Play store. Malaysian authorities falsely claimed that the app would help members of the queer community change their sexual orientation. It also enclosed an ebook that detailed the “true experience" of a gay man who “abandoned homosexual behaviour” during Ramzan.In Malaysia, LGBTQIA+ rights are largely unrecognised and members of the community are often subject to discrimination. Same-sex relations are prohibited under colonial-era laws and are punishable with up to 20 years in prison and mandatory whipping.