Grindr

The FTC in mid-September issued a statement urging people using LGBTQ+ dating apps to be cautious amid the growing number of scammers who operate on these apps.

Apps like Grindr and Feeld were named in particular as the FTC warned of an increasing number of scammers who seek explicit photos and then use them to extort money. According to Consumer Reports, the attackers pose as interested romantic partners and chat with intended victims. These scammers send explicit photos quickly, seeing who responds with a similar photo in return.

The next part plays out like an episode of Black Mirror, where if the victim does send an explicit photo in hopes of connecting in person, the attacker quickly turns on them and uses blackmail to extort money. The attackers threaten to send the photo to the victim’s personal networks, including family and friends or even an employer unless they pay (usually via gift card). 

Image: Hello Sunshine

Dating app Bumble has partnered with Reese Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine and Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur to produce three short films on romances inspired by real-life Bumble users.

According to Deadline, the film series is currently branded as “Meet Cute” vignettes, featuring three female and non-binary filmmakers. Bumble and Hello Sunshine are both platforms that elevate women and LGBTQ+ voices.

The filmmakers - Carly Usdin, Sadé Clacken Joseph, and Haroula Rose – will all be taking these real-life stories and retelling them in their own unique voices.

The Vatican and Catholic Churches in the U.S. are bracing for more of its clergy members to be outed for using gay dating app Grindr.

The Pillar published a report that based on “legally obtained” data there seem to be “at least 16 mobile devices [that] emitted signals from the hookup app Grindr on at least four days between March to October 2018 within the non-public areas of the Vatican City State, while 16 other devices showed use of other location-based hookup or dating apps, both heterosexual and homosexual, on four or more days in the same time period.”

The Pillar maintains that this information was obtained through commercially available app signal data, not through hacking, and that it pulled data from rectories and other clerical housing from 2018 through 2020.

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, 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.

As Pride Month is celebrated around the world, a report surfaced that 27 LGBTQ+ dating apps were removed from Apple’s app store in China. Notably, these apps did not include China-based gay dating app Blued, Grindr, or Scruff, popular gay dating apps in the country.

According to The Daily Mail, digital rights advocacy groups Fight for the Future and China-based GreatFire published a report that claims Apple is “actively helping governments around the world isolate, silence and oppress people.” All together, the report shows 1,377 documented cases of restrictions on access to apps in 152 app stores around the world. The app store in China is second only to Saudi Arabia’s in terms of app removals. 

Dating app Grindr announced the premiere of its new comedy special called Gag Reflex, featuring a lineup of up-and-coming LGBTQ comedians, who share stories of dating and the queer experience.

The special originally aired as a livestream on April 1st on YouTube and the Grindr app, and is now available to watch anytime on YouTube. According to Variety, the featured comedians include Joel Kim Booster (NBC’s Sunnyside, Hulu’s Shrill), Sydnee Washington (Broad City), Jay Jurden (The Tonight Show), Jaye McBride and Zach Zimmerman.