Contributed by: kellyseal on Wednesday, August 04 2021 @ 07:55 am
Last modified on Wednesday, August 04 2021 @ 08:07 am
TikTok and Twitter users are posting profiles of closeted Olympic athletes who are discreetly using Grindr while they compete in Tokyo for the 2021 Olympics, raising alarm among LGBTQ+ communities.
Some of the athletes who have been highlighted have not come out as gay, while at least one comes from a country where same-sex sexual relations are illegal, putting them in danger. According to a report from Insider[*1] , there are other risks as well because the Olympics are taking place in Tokyo, and Amnesty International has said it’s a culture that “systemically discriminates against gay people.”
The social media users are logging on to the Grindr app and using its “explore” feature to find profiles of athletes in the Olympic Village. When they find an athlete, they take screenshots and video, zooming in on their photos and posting them without the athletes’ consent or knowledge. So far, ten profiles have been posted to Twitter and four to TikTok, with one post gaining at least 140,000 views according to Insider.
TikTok has removed the viral post, citing it violated community guidelines. Twitter reprimanded its members who participated in outing athletes, saying the posts need to be removed before the account owners can resume using its platform.
Insider spoke to a Grindr spokesperson, who stated: "these individuals are in breach of Grindr's Terms and Conditions of Service...Out of respect for our users' privacy, and out of respect for the contractual commitments these individuals made, Grindr demands that these individuals remove their social media posts that include images from the Grindr platform."
Grindr has been a source of concern when it comes to personal information being exposed. When the app was sold to Chinese tech company Beijing Kunlun Tech, U.S. oversight agencies worried that government and military officials using the app would be targeted and potentially blackmailed. The agency later forced Beijing Kunlun to sell, which they did last year to U.S.-based San Vicente Acquisition Partners.
Last year, Egyptian officials were accused of using Grindr to identify LGBTQ people for arrest and torture at the hands of the country’s National Security Agency. And the Russian government continues to push anti-LGBTQ laws, including banning gay marriage and trans adoptions this past April.
Outing Olympic athletes isn’t new, either. In 2016, a journalist from The Daily Beast wrote a controversial article where he used Grindr to expose gay athletes to the world without their consent. He issued an apology but was suspended from The Daily Beast for months.
Gay publications such as Out Magazine have reported on the problem as well, but have withheld the names of the athletes and the posters to protect the safety of those involved.