Vybe Together app, meant to promote parties despite Covid, has been taken down

The Times Square ball is tested out for the media ahead of the New Year’s celebration in Times Square amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., December 30, 2020.Carlo Allegri | ReutersAn app that encouraged users to “get your rebel on, get your party on” despite the pandemic has apparently been removed from most corners of the internet.Vybe Together, which billed itself as a way to “find your Vybe” at “speakeasies, jam sessions or beer pong,” appeared to promote secret, invite-only parties, according to an archived version of a now-removed website. The deleted FAQ page said the platform was meant to promote smaller gatherings rather than big parties, The Verge reported.The app’s domain was registered this year, according to Business Insider, but it earned more widespread criticism on Tuesday after New York Times technology reporter Taylor Lorenz tweeted about it.Read more from NBC News: Doctors, nurses ‘can’t take much more’ amid Covid-19 surge in Southern CaliforniaWorld rings in 2021 with muted celebrations amid Covid-19 restrictionsDrones, bots and virtual stores: How your pandemic shopping boosted new trends in retailLorenz’s tweet shared screenshots of the app, and in subsequent tweets she shared a TikTok from Vybe Together’s TikTok account, which showed the app promoting a New Year’s Eve party.”We are a secret party app gathering every weekend,” text written on the video read about the New Year’s Eve party. The video stated the party would be invitation only and would take place in New York City.In New York, indoor and outdoor gathers are limited to no more than 10 people, according to the state’s website.Vybe Together’s account has since been removed from TikTok, a TikTok spokesperson told NBC News by email. The spokesperson said the account was removed for violating community guidelines and said it did not advertise on the platform.The app has also been removed from the Apple App Store. The app had not been made available on Google Play, Google’s version of the App Store.NBC News has reached out to Alexander Dimcevski, who is reportedly a co-founder of the app, for comment.Dimcevski told Business Insider that the app had yet to throw any large parties and that its TikTok was over-the-top marketing.”We do not condone large unsafe parties during a pandemic,” Dimcevski told Business Insider.As of Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that Dimcevski had either deleted or deactivated his LinkedIn account.Currently, it appears that Vybe Together still exists on Instagram, where the account has approximately 840 followers and has two posts up.”App store took us down!!! We will be back!! Follow to stay updated,” Vybe Together’s Instagram account description reads.A text post to the account from Tuesday says, “Local wine nights, beer pong games and dancing in an apartment near you,” with the caption, “We are gonna come back !!!”The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise that the “safest way to celebrate the new year is to celebrate at home with the people who live with you or virtually with friends and family.”Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

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