General News

Lebanon’s Telecommunications Ministry has blocked access to Grindr on the country’s state-owned internet service provider, sparking concern amongst activists, allies and human rights organizations.

The local Daily Star newspaper was the first outlet to report on the ban. The Telecommunications Ministry reportedly sent a memo to Lebanese internet service providers ordering them to block the app. Within several days, users found they could not access Grindr over the state-run ISP Ogero. Amnesty International obtained confirmation from an official source at the ministry that a ban had indeed been put into effect.

Tantan, the popular dating app often referred to as China’s Tinder, was recently removed from the Chinese app store in an effort by the government to “clean up content in cyberspace,” according to ZDNet.

There were no specifics given as to why the app was removed, but the company issued a statement saying that it is complying with the government’s requirements. The app was removed from both the Apple and Android stores in China.

Momo, Tantan’s parent company, also issued a statement saying it was "proactively communicating with the relevant government authorities" and will "fully cooperate" to restore the app's availability "as soon as possible," according to Yahoo! Finance. Shares of the company tumbled after the app’s removal.

Beijing Kunlun Tech, a Chinese company which owns the popular dating app Grindr, will now be forced to sell it by June 2020, according to a report by CNN.

Beijing Kunlun Tech owns 60% of Grindr, a popular dating app in the LGBTQ community. Last year the company was planning to take the app public but was stopped when the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) intervened. The U.S. government agency oversees purchases of businesses by foreign entities and expressed concern that the national security of the U.S. would be threatened by the acquisition of the dating app by a Chinese tech company, because of the sensitive user information it had access to.

Toffee, the UK-based dating app aimed exclusively at privately-educated singles, is beginning its international expansion with Australia. The app was widely criticized as elitist when it launched in the UK last April, but shows no sign of slowing down in the face of controversy. Toffee will become available for Android users in September, followed by the Australia launch in November. Additional international rollouts are planned over the next 12 months.

Founder Lydia Davis insists Toffee was not born out of snobbery. “I’ve found that people from similar backgrounds tend to stick together,” she told Vogue earlier this year. “It was never our intention to be elitist. Schooling is a big part of people’s lives – 10 years of their childhood. It doesn’t define them, but it is part of their identity. It’s just one of many things people might have in common.”

Technology has made it easier than ever to connect with singles around the world, but it has introduced its own set of questions and complications to the dating process. Match’s new service, AskMatch, aims to help curious, confused and clueless users navigate online dating by making a team of dedicated dating coaches available for one-on-one phone sessions.

Unlike the AI chatbots found on other apps, AskMatch coaches are live humans with professional resumes. Members can consult these experts for guidance, actionable tips or a sympathetic ear by selecting the “Talk to a coach” option under the “Discover” tab of the app. After the phone call, members can choose to remain in contact with their coach through the app to ask further questions or provide progress updates.

Tinder plans to launch a new, scaled-down version of the app called Tinder Lite.

According to Tech Crunch, the new app is catering to markets where bandwidth, data usage and storage space have all been challenging, which means customers to pay a premium for access to mobile data. Some of the regions Tinder is targeting include India and Southeast Asia, where parent company Match Group has appointed three new executives and dedicated more resources to growing its brands.

Tinder Lite was initially mentioned in an investor call according to Tech Crunch. However, Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg shared few details about the launch or the app. There was no specific date mentioned, and no details about what features would be removed, but likely the trademark swiping and matching would remain as key elements of the Tinder Lite experience.