Legal

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.

Iranian singles have a new state-approved dating app to help them find spouses, but so far, young people aren’t so excited about using it. The app is called Hamdan, which means “companion” in Persian, and was developed by a team from the Islamic Propaganda Organization.

According to the BBC, people living in Iran use dating apps, but Hamdan is the first app to be legally approved by the government. The app’s technology works like a regular dating app using AI to better understand what users are looking for and to help find matches, but the process goes beyond just matching. The app says it is “only for bachelors seeking permanent marriage,” according to reports.

Users can’t just sign up – they first have to verify their identity and undergo a psychological test before they can use the app. And when a match is found, there is a more circuitous route to actually meeting each other in person. The app introduces families, not just the singles who match, and it also provides a so-called “service consultant” to not only introduce the families, but “accompany” the couple even after they get married, for a period of four years.

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. 

A new motion was filed in the New York Supreme Court against Match Group and IAC for allegedly covering up a report of sexual misconduct to manipulate the valuation of dating app Tinder, according to a report by Bloomberg. Match Group is the parent company of Tinder, and at the time of the incident, was owned by IAC. 

Lawyers for former Tinder co-founder and CEO Sean Rad and other Tinder employees who filed the lawsuit said that there are internal company documents that reveal IAC and Match Group executives discussed covering up sexual assault allegations against former Match Group CEO Greg Blatt, but that the companies are concealing them. They argue that IAC and Match Group intended to keep Blatt on board so he could lowball Tinder’s value, and therefore cheat Tinder employees out of billions in payment for their stock options.

Tinder Are you Sure?
Feature for sending Messages

Image: Tinder

Dating app Tinder unveiled a new feature as part of its effort to step up safety measures on its platform. “Are You Sure?” or the AYS? feature will deliver a pop-up to question a user before they send a potentially harmful message.

According to Mashable, AYS? utilizes AI in real time to detect inappropriate language, based on what users have reported to Tinder in the past. When a user types a message that is flagged or noticed by the AI, an AYS? prompt will automatically appear before the user can press “send.” According to Tinder, in early tests this feature reduced harmful language in messages by as much as 10 percent. The company also said that members who saw this pop-up were less likely to be reported for sending inappropriate messages, an indication that it could curb this behavior.

The goal with using an AI-driven feature is that it will improve and become more effective in countering harmful messages over time as it gathers more input.

Dating app Mingle2 announced that it will be rolling out in-app background checks, adding a new level of safety for its more than 39 million users.

The app has partnered with RealMe, a security tool that aggregates publicly available background information on over 275 million people in the U.S., presenting the findings in one report for easier reference. The new integrated feature provides Mingle2 users with insight into sex offender status, marital status, lawsuits, and criminal records of potential matches. 

According to the company’s press release, RealMe’s integration will allow Mingle2 to validate and verify user profiles to ensure safer interactions for people while using the app. Members will also be able to see a person’s Reputation Profile, where the background information is shared.