‘Sugar daddy’ dating app banned by WeChat, labeled an ‘abnormal enterprise’ by authorities
Tags: Censorship, News, Apps, China, Dating

‘Sugar daddy’ dating app banned by WeChat, labeled an ‘abnormal enterprise’ by authorities

Well, that was quick

Obviously jealous of its incredible breakout success, WeChat has now banned China’s hottest social media app, one which aims to bring “sugar daddies” and “sugar babies” together — and which may not be around in China for long.

The American dating app “SeekingArrangement” has become a surprise overnight success in China, topping the charts this week for the most recent downloads of a free social networking app on China’s iOS app store, surpassing even WeChat itself.

In case you’ve never heard of it, SeekingArrangement, founded in 2006 by Singapore-born, MIT-graduate Brandon Wade is the the world’s premier “Sugar Daddy” dating site, claiming to have 10 million active members across 139 different countries with four “sugar babies” for every one “sugar daddy/momma.”

While the app’s business plan has often been criticized in countries around the world for exploiting young, naive women and for being little more than a prostitution service, SeekingArrangement claims that it is merely helping its users form “balanced” relationships on their own terms:

Where Sugar Babies enjoy a life of luxury by being pampered with fine dinners, exotic trips and allowances. In turn, Sugar Daddies or Mommas find beautiful members to accompany them at all times. We want relationships to be balanced. We give our members a place for this to happen.

The app’s popularity suddenly exploded in China this week after the state-run Global Times published an article warning its readers that the infamous app had arrived in China, reporting that the company had been registered in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2015 and had launched a Chinese website and app (甜蜜定制).

While the tabloid’s warning achieved much the opposite of its intended effect, with Chinese web users rushing to download the app, it seems unlikely that SeekingArrangement’s success will last long, considering Chinese censors’ attitudes towards sex and social media.

In an apparent attempt to win over China’s Net Nanny, the company has rephrased things a bit for its Chinese app, replacing “sugar daddy” with “successful man/woman” and “sugar baby” with “charming sweetheart.”

An anonymous worker at the company told China Daily that SeekingArrangement’s Chinese website and app are designed as a “premium platform that functions like any other legal dating site in China,” with the only difference being that SA targets “successful men of high quality and fine taste.”

The worker added that the company manually screens words like “sugar daddy” or “sex-for-cash” on member profiles in China, trying to distance itself from charges of prostitution.

“Our Chinese product is exclusively developed for the local market and would definitely abide by the law here,” the worker insisted.

Meanwhile, on the front page of SeekingArrangement’s Chinese website there’s a notice that reads: “SA’s Chinese version is an absolutely independent brand… do not be misled by biased media reports. SA Chinese will continue to build a high quality space for high quality people!”

The company’s website and app remain up in China, as does their Weibo page which has close to 11,000 followers.

However, along with being disappared from WeChat, SeekingArrangement has also been placed under investigation by authorities in Shanghai which announced earlier today that the company has no operations in Shanghai and as been entered into the FTZ’s Lists of Enterprises with Abnormal Operations.

But hey, even if the company does get completely shut down in China by the end of the week, at least they’ll have gained a good bit of free publicity out of this whole drama.