A software firm has been criticised for attempting to sell spyware to parents, claiming that it could determine the sexual orientation of their sons.

The French firm, Fireworld, uploaded an article to their website explaining that the new “invisible PC spy software” could help confirm or refute parents’ suspicions that their son might be gay.

The article made no mention of female homosexuality and has since been removed from Fireworld’s website.

A French LGBTQ activist group, L'Amicale des jeunes du Refuge, posted about the software in a series of tweets that have been retweeted more than 900 times.

The thread also caught the attention of French Secretary of State for Equality, Marlène Schiappa, who responded by tweeting that Fireworld’s proposed software exhibited "homophobia and sexism have their roots in the same gender stereotypes. We will fight them together."

In the original article, the French firm wrote: "Family is fundamental. That's why the sexual orientation of your children, directly responsible for the continuation of your family, is very important to you," the BBC reported.

It continued to issue a series of “clues” that might lead a parent to suspect that their son is gay.

These included “taking good care of himself”, having piercings, being shy, liking female singers and showing an interest in theatre rather than football.

Whilst the article went on to encourage parents to “accept him” and not be selfish.

In response to L'Amicale des jeunes du Refuge, Fireworld explained that the article’s sole intention was to improve search engine optimisation and was never actually intended to be read by anyone.

"We regret not having reflected on the consequences of this type of content" the firm wrote in an email to the group.