Apple removes Hornet queer social network app from AppStore Turkey

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Following an access block imposed on the website of Hornet, "the world's queer social network", the application of the website has also been removed from the AppStore Turkey by Apple.

The access block was imposed on the website in Turkey by the Ankara 8th Penal Judgeship of Peace in its decision no. 2020/5617 on August 6, 2020. With its application removed from the Apple AppStore as well, Hornet has informed its Apple users by sending them a text message.

In its message, Hornet has annıunced that the application has been removed by Apple "as a result of the decision of Turkish courts."

It has also indicated that "Hornet has been working to solve this problem with Apple and the Turkish courts."

"In the meantime, you will be unable to download Hornet from the App Store; for this reason, we recommend that you do not remove the Hornet application from your mobile phone or tablet. We will share more detailed information about the issue in a short time," the message has added.

What happened?

An access block was imposed on the website of Hornet queer social network by the Ankara 8th Penal Judgeship of Peace on August 6, 2020.

Grindr, another meeting and partnership application, was also faced with an access block in August 2013, when the Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TİB) took a "protection measure."

Kaos GL LGBTI+ Association applied to the Constitutional Court and requested the removal of this block; the appeal to the İstanbul Anadolu 3rd Penal Judgeship of Peace had been rejected in February 2014.

Indicating that "www.grindr.com was a dating site with homosexual members", the İstanbul Anadolu 14th Penal Court of Peace said that "access was blocked on the grounds that the website contained prostitution and obscenity foreseen in the Articles 8/5-6 of the Law no. 5651."

However, as the content that "contained prositutiton and obscenity" was not specified in the ruling, the existence of homosexual members was associated with the alleged prostitution and obscenity.

Similarly, when one tries to access gabile.com in Turkey, a warning appears on the screen: "The protections measure has been taken for this website (gabile.com) according to decision nr. 2020/5858 D.İş dated 10/09/2020 of 'Ankara 7th Penal Judgeship of Peace' has been implemented by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority." (SO/SD)