Sugar Book app blocked in Malaysia for ‘promoting prostitution’

The law enforcement authorities of Malaysia announced on Thursday that an app called Sugar Book has been found to be in violation of anti-prostitution laws of the country due to which the founder of the app has been arrested, reported BCC. 

Darren Chan, the 34-year old founder of the app, is suspected to be the person who has been arrested for the illegal services being provided by the app, which vows to connect women with men who are of greater age with a factor of providing monetary support, reported BBC. 

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The app’s slogan is “where romance meets finance” and it says it offers users a “sugar relationship” in which both people “define what they want in a relationship in exchange for financial support”.

The app, which claims to be a social media platform that helps strangers to connect to each other, adopted a highly unorthodox slogan that says “where romance meets finance”. 

According to the website of Straits Times, Fadzil Ahmat, Malaysian police chief said, “We are investigating the case for publishing or circulating any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause fear or alarm to the public, sharing offensive or menacing content, and prostitution.”

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The app and website of Sugarbook were blocked off by the Malaysian law enforcement authorities on Tuesday for “breaching internet regulations.”

The app, which was made available to the public in 2016, had a substantial user base in Thailand, Singapore and the US too.