Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, September 27 2024 @ 01:09 pm
Last modified on Friday, September 27 2024 @ 01:12 pm
Dating app Grindr has issued a warning to its users who live in or are traveling to Brussels after a recent attack.
Grindr has installed a push notification for users in the area that reads: "Be safe! Violent and homophobic setups have been reported in Brussels," according to Brussels Times[*1] .
The gay dating app warned users of homophobic violence in the country after local police confirmed they are investigating whether someone used a fake profile to target and kill a family in a recent home invasion in Ixelles, Brussels. A fifty-seven year-old man was shot dead, and his wife and twenty-two year-old son suffered gunshot wounds after their home was invaded.
Police suspect someone had targeted the 22 year-old son in a hate crime using the dating app.
According to Brussels Times, the son had organized a date over Grindr with what he thought was a legitimate profile, but turned out to be a trap that criminals in the area have used to find their victims. Several men forced their way into the flat and demanded money from the young victim, according to the Times, which then awakened his parents.
The Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office in a press release: "There is no clarity yet on the exact circumstances and motives of the perpetrator(s).” It went on to say: "However, investigations are underway to determine whether the perpetrator(s) and one of the victims had a possible contact through a meet-up app."
The police aren’t confirming this yet, but there is precedent. In June, five people fell victim to homophobic violence through similar means (via gay dating app Grindr.) Each victim was similarly lured through a match that they’d made over the app, but were beaten when they arrived for the date, according to local news website Le Soir.
Two of the incidents were reported to an LGBTQ-rights group called Rainbow House, who reached out to Grindr out of concern. Basile Chandelle of Ex Aequo, an NGO working with Rainbow House, said to another news site De Standaard: “They created a push notification that appears for Brussels residents who are active on the app.”
Grindr has been at the center of other targeted attacks in countries like Egypt in the Middle East, and issued a similar warning to users in those areas. In Egypt during a rash of attacks, the dating app actually advised users to make the app invisible on their phones (a feature that Grindr developed to make a safer online dating experience for its users).