Social media app removed over alleged plagiarism

A social networking app designed by Sina Weibo, Chinese largest Twitter-like platform, has been removed from the market on suspicion of plagiarism, just two days after it was put online.

On Wednesday, the operator of the app, called Oasis, posted a statement via its Weibo account, saying it had taken the app off the shelves of Apple's App Store temporarily after a netizen pointed out the app logo allegedly copied the pattern of the Ulju Mountain Film Festival, which was designed by Korean studio fnt in 2015.

A review of the logo design has been launched, and the operator is resolving the copyright-related problem, according to the post.

Details about the review and when the app will return were not released in the statement.

"Oasis is in a test phase, so our preparation for the app design isn't sufficient, and the app's functions and services are going to be improved," the operator said in the statement, welcoming the public to keep following and monitoring the app to help it become better.

The operator admitted the app logo designers used public patterns and materials online as a reference at first, such as those of a sun, desert and cactus, saying such elements coincided with the app's design idea.

"In today's social network, everyone is like a cactus in a desert, feeling lonely and full of thorns. We need an oasis," the operator explained in the statement, illustrating the app logo and the Korean design.

Seen from the illustration, the app logo is highly similar to the one designed by the Korean studio, and the logo is still applied to the app's accounts on Weibo and WeChat at present.

The app's previous post showed that Oasis had ranked first in a free social app download list on the App Store on Tuesday, ahead of WeChat and QQ, two popular instant messaging and social media apps in the country.

Xie Kuangshi, a photographer, was among the first crop of users to download Oasis. He said he noticed the app, not only because he likes trying new things but also because the app is a picture-dominated social platform.

"The app is more like Instagram with clean and clear pages, and we can follow and watch content such as those on travel, food and sports in accordance with our hobbies," he said, adding some functions are also like Xiaohongshu, a social shopping app in China.

Oasis is not the first app to be mired in controversy this week. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology summoned social networking firm Momo Inc, as its face-swapping app, ZAO, was accused of excessively collecting personal information.