Anti-vax app squares off with Google, Apple over Covid jab misinformation

ANEW social app designed as a community for the unvaccinated is testing Google and Apple Inc.’s policies concerning the spread of misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

Unjected, started by two women from Hawaii, bills itself as a community for “like-minded people that support medical autonomy and free speech.” The app allows users to make a profile, match and message with other members. It launched in May shortly after the largest online dating sites, including Match Group’s Tinder and Bumble Inc., introduced perks to encourage users to get vaccinated. Sometimes dubbed the “Tinder for anti-vaxxers,” Unjected has since racked up 18,000 downloads, according to Apptopia, and plenty of jokes on Twitter.

Though the platform began as a site for dating and friendships, it recently rolled out a social feed. A routine update to the app triggered a review by Google Play that found it hadn’t sufficiently policed usergenerated content for misinformation. In e-mails to Unjected, Google flagged posts that included claims of vaccines being “experimental MRNA gene modifiers,” “bioweapons” and “nano-technology microchips” used to link people to the 5G network.

Google told Unjected on July 16 it had two weeks to remove the posts from its app store or get booted off. “We’ve had to walk a censorship tightrope,” co-founder Shelby Thomson said. Unjected removed the social feed to get back in compliance on Google Play but Thomson said she plans to restore it, along with the flagged posts, and hopes to “stay under the radar.” Other features on the app that remain active include matches, chat rooms, a community directory of “unvaxxed friendly,” businesses and a database where users can list their blood types. “We’re not trying to be harmful to society,” said Thomson. “We just want to exercise our freedom of choice.”

Apple removed the app from its App Store after being contacted by

Bloomberg News. In an e-mail to Unjected, Apple said the app “inappropriately refers to the Covid-19 pandemic in its concept or theme.”

Apple requires all apps related to Covid-19 provide credible health and safety information and only come from recognized entities including government organizations, healthfocused non-profits and medical or educational institutions.

Apple had originally denied Unjected during the initial review process and approved the app after it made changes to comply with Covid-19 policies, an Apple spokesperson said. Since then, “the developer has made statements externally to its users as well as updates to the app that once again bring it out of compliance,” Apple said, adding that Unjected encouraged users to avoid using certain words to avoid detection. “This is a violation of our guidelines, which make it clear: ‘If you attempt to cheat the system… your apps will be removed from the store.’”