Grindr

Grindr has come under scrutiny in the last several weeks after Chinese company Beijing Kunlun Tech purchased a majority stake in the popular dating app in 2018. The U.S. government has demanded the new owners give up control of the company.

According to The Washington Post, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a government body charged with overseeing security threats to U.S. companies, has declared that the Grindr purchase is a threat to U.S. national security because of the risk posed to the privacy of users of the app.

INTO, the online LGBTQ publication owned and operated by Grindr, is no more. The company ended the digital magazine’s 14-month run by terminating its editorial staff on January 15 and announcing a pivot to video.

Grindr launched INTO in August 2017. The website featured news articles, op-eds, lifestyle content and advice columns for a modern LGBTQ audience. The launch was part of a larger effort to reframe Grindr as a lifestyle brand, not “just” a dating app, but the outlet’s journalism was praised and went on to win awards from The Association of LGBTQ Journalists and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

In a statement shared with NBC News, a Grindr spokesperson called the decision to dismiss INTO's staff a "strategic shift in focus."

The president of gay dating app Grindr is under fire for a Facebook post in which he appeared to express opposition to same-sex marriage. Scott Chen, who became president of Grindr in August after it was purchased by Chinese tech firm Kunlun Group, has since deleted the controversial post and defended himself against accusations of anti-LGBTQ bias.

In a public status posted in late November, Chen wrote in Chinese: “Some people think marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman. And I think so too. But that's your own business." Puzzlingly, he also criticized Christian groups fighting marriage equality and said he would boycott HTC after reports that it had backed US groups opposed to same-sex marriage. Chen’s conflicting remarks were translated to English and published by INTO, a digital magazine owned by Grindr.

Chen responded to the INTO article with criticism, calling it “unbalanced and misleading” and defending his post in the article’s comment section. “The reason I said marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman is based on my own personal experience,” he wrote. “I am a straight man married to a woman I love and I have two beautiful daughters I love from the marriage. This is how I feel about my marriage. Different people have their different feelings about their marriages. You can’t deny my feelings about my marriage.”

Chen also chastised the website for not reaching out to him for comment before publishing the article.

Grindr, the leading dating app for gay and bisexual men, is preparing to list its shares on international stock exchanges. The app’s Chinese parent company, Kunlun Group, said in a stock exchange filing to the China Securities Regulatory Commission that the listing will take place overseas at an unspecified time. The timing and locations of the share sale will be determined by regulatory approval as well as capital market conditions.

In the Shenzhen stock exchange filing, Kunlun Group said that financing arrangements would be made to support Grindr’s expansion following the completion of the IPO. The company’s board said that going public would “strengthen” Grindr’s competitiveness and support future development plans for the business.

“Grindr’s listing won’t exert a huge influence on the group’s revenues and profits,” Kunlun said in the filing, according to The Independent. “Meanwhile, Grindr can have an individual and direct financing platform which can support its expansion and long-term development.”

“It’s time to play nice.”

With those five words and a cryptic Instagram post, Grindr has hinted at what appears to be a new initiative to curb discrimination amongst daters. Its name, of course, is Kindr.

Grindr has long faced criticism from users who found the app to be an unwelcoming, and sometimes dangerous, place. Many have reported experiencing racism, transphobia, and violent hate crimes on or as a result of the platform. Some have sworn it off completely in response.

With Kindr, Grindr may finally be ready to tackle the issue head on. The Instagram post features an updated logo and a series of intertwining voiceovers describing their experiences with prejudice on the app.

Laotian-born Sinakhone Keodara was browsing Grindr when he stumbled upon a profile with a succinct description: “Not interested in Asians.”

It wasn’t the first time he encountered discriminatory language on the app, nor was it a surprise to the Asian American friend he later phoned about it. Both had repeatedly experienced racism while using dating services. This time, they decided to do something about it.

Keodara took to social media to announce plans to bring a class-action lawsuit against Grindr for racial discrimination, calling for co-plaintiffs across the United States to join the fight.