China orders ban on hookup app following “girl has sex for travel” hoax

Within the past week, you might have seen a story appear on your Facebook feed about a Chinese woman looking for men to take her on vacation in exchange for sex. And as you probably suspected, it’s fake, fake, fake.

Where did this story come from? According to China’s InTouch Today, a user purportedly named Ju Peng posted domestic forums like Douban and Tianya hoping to connect with travel partners. While Ju never mentioned sex explicitly, most readers could put two and two together. When asked how to get in touch, Ju replied stating that she doesn’t often use WeChat or QQ, and the best way to reach her was through her account on Youjia, a hookup app not unlike China’s Momo.

Rough translation: Girl sends out long post on Reddit asking for a “travel companion.” Thread gets lots of replies. When asked for her contact info, girl writes, “Sorry guys, I don’t really use Facebook, WhatsApp, or email, but here’s my account number for [mildly popular hookup app].”

Despite how savvy observers spotted the poorly executed product placement, viral content is viral content. The original post got picked up by media outlets both within China and beyond – though most respectable English-language news sites steered clear.

See: No, Beijing residents are NOT watching fake sunrises on giant TVs because of pollution

Unfortunately for Youjia, the Chinese government wasn’t amused. According to The Shanghai Daily (hat-tip Shanghaiist), China’s State Internet Information Office has ordered the Shanghai-based company to shut down, in a statement that says the social media startup “crossed the line for promotion.” As far as we can tell, Youjia has complied to at least some degree – the app is missing from some of China’s top app stores including Wandoujia, 91Mobile, Baidu App Search, Tencent’s Yingyongbao, and AnZhi, though its website remains up and running in China.

On a scale of one to lame, Youjia’s viral marketing scheme is lame beyond lame. Even so, consider this – if Tinder pulled these antics, it would get banned from Reddit, receive a spanking from the media, and then promptly go about its business. In China, however, Youjia retreats from app stores and gets called out by the government for spreading rumors – not an accusation to be taken lightly in the Middle Kingdom, however fleeting.

(Source: InTouch Today, Shanghai Daily)