Category: Grindr

U.S. Orders Chinese Firm to Sell Dating App Grindr Over Blackmail Risk

Posted on March 28, 2019

Grindr mobileWALL STREET JOURNAL – Mar 27 – U.S. national-security officials have ordered a Chinese company to sell gay-dating app Grindr, citing the risk that the personal data it collects could be exploited by Beijing to blackmail individuals with security clearances, according to people familiar with the situation. Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd., which acquired a majority stake in Grindr in 2016, would have no choice but to share information on Grindr users if demanded by the Chinese government, U.S. officials believe. That triggered the recent order from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., known as Cfius. National-security experts said a Chinese company would never be allowed to buy a company like Facebook Inc., for example.

"If Cfius only applies to companies China acquires from the U.S., and not companies China builds, what can it possibly solve?" said Geoffrey Cook, CEO of The Meet Group.

Potential buyers for Grindr could include Match. Mark Brooks, a consultant in the dating industry, said Spark Networks and The Meet Group could be among other potential contenders.

by Georgia Wells & Kate O'Keeffe
See full article at Wall Street Journal

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Grindr Defeats Appeal Over Harassment on Gay Dating App

Posted on March 28, 2019

Paragraph-symbol-rulesREUTERS – Mar 27 – A U.S. federal appeals court refused to hold Grindr liable to a New York man who said his former boyfriend used the gay dating app to post fake profiles, in a harassment campaign that caused 1,000 men to approach the victim for sex. The man sued Grindr in Jan. 2017, and a federal judge dismissed his case a year later, prompting the appeal. His lawyer Tor Ekeland said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by Wednesday's decision because courts are "extremely deferential to big tech" when interpreting the CDA (Communications Decency Act). "Apps are being used to stalk, rape and murder. Under the court's reading of the CDA, big tech companies don't have responsibility to do anything about it, even if they know it is happening. Congress needs to amend this statute," he said.

by Jonathan Stempel
See full article at Reuters

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U.S. Pushes Chinese Owner of Grindr to Divest the Dating App

Posted on March 27, 2019

Grindr icon black yellowREUTERS – Mar 26 – Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd is seeking to sell Grindr, the gay dating app it has owned since 2016, after a U.S. government national security panel raised concerns about its ownership. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has informed Kunlun that its ownership of Grindr constitutes a national security risk. Kunlun had said last August it was preparing for an IPO of Grindr. As a result of CFIUS' intervention, Kunlun has now shifted its focus to an auction process to sell Grindr outright. Grindr has hired investment bank Cowen Inc to handle the sale process, and is soliciting acquisition interest from U.S. investment firms, as well as Grindr's competitors. Kunlun acquired a majority stake in Grindr in 2016 for $93M. It bought out the remainder of the company in 2018.

by Carl O'Donnell, Liana B. Baker & Echo Wang
See full article at Reuters

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Dating App Grindr Turns 10

Posted on March 18, 2019

GLOBAL NEWS – Mar 17 – Grindr was launched in March of 2009 and now has millions of daily users. The app's rise in popularity is no big surprise, as it turns out online dating in general has become the most popular way to meet people, especially within the LGBTQ community. New research from Stanford University and the University of New Mexico says ~70% of American same-sex couples who met recently did so online.

by Jasmine Pazzano
See full article at Global News

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One in Two Grindr Users Believe They’ll Find True Love on the App

Posted on March 5, 2019

Grindr logo 2018GAYSTARNEWS – Mar 5 – A study by Compare The Market showed 56.5% of Grindr users believe they can find the love of their life on the dating app. Moreover, 84% of Grindr users said they have fallen in love with someone via the app. Her, a dating app for queer women, came in close with 81% of their users saying the same. PlanetRomeo users were the most skeptical to love, with 16.7% answering 'no, love cannot be found on online dating apps.'

by Josh Milton
See full article at GayStarNews

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Tinder and Grindr Failing to Enforce Age Restrictions

Posted on February 11, 2019

Children on dating sitesDAILYMAIL.CO.UK – Feb 11 - Dozens of children as young as eight have been sexually abused by paedophiles on apps like Tinder and Grindr because they are failing to enforce age restrictions. The figures were revealed by 10 of 46 British police forces. Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, described the findings as 'truly shocking'. He added: "I will be writing to these companies asking what measures they have in place to keep children safe from harm, including verifying their age. If I'm not satisfied with their response, I reserve the right to take further action." Tinder said it uses both automated and manual tools to moderate users, including scanning profiles for 'red flag' images, and said it also depends on users to report profiles that may belong to a minor.

by Rory Tingle
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

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Grindr Banned in Lebanon

Posted on January 22, 2019

Grindr bannedIBTIMES – Jan 21 – Lebanon has reportedly banned people from accessing Grindr, a gay dating mobile app, on the country's public network. The reason behind the ban was unknown. Other countries have partially and completely banned the app. Here is a list of such countries:

  1. Turkey
  2. Iran
  3. Saudi Arabia
  4. Indonesia
  5. Egypt
  6. China
  7. United Arab Emirates
  8. Ukraine
  9. Russia

by Vaishnavi Vaidyanathan
See full article at IBTimes

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What Role Should Dating Apps Play in Preventing Cyberstalking?

Posted on January 22, 2019

CyberstalkingCNET – Jan 21 – "The overwhelming majority of our domestic violence cases involve some type of technological abuse," said Sadie Diaz, a senior staff attorney for the Courtroom Advocates Project. Stalking victims say that dating apps and services have done little to prevent this abuse. The FBI encourages people to report cybercrimes to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, but it doesn't have a category for cyberstalking. The closest is "Harassment/Threats of Violence." While the FBI received 16,974 complaints in 2018, the Justice Department prosecuted 16 cyberstalking cases that year. Matthew Herrick, of New York, wasn't aware there were multiple fake profiles of him on Grindr. Then one day, someone showed up at his apartment expecting sex. It was the first of many. His ex-boyfriend had created the profiles after the two broke up, and was courting strangers to come harass him in real life. Herrick asked ~50 times for Grindr to delete fake profiles. Section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act, a law from 1996, provides immunity to tech platforms from actions of its users. When Herrick sued Grindr for failing to delete the fake accounts, a New York judge dismissed the case on Jan. 25, 2018. Nearly a year later, at an appeals hearing on Jan. 7, Grindr's lawyers echoed the same argument. While Grindr ignored Herrick's pleas for help, Scruff was more responsive. Fake profiles were removed within two days. Eric Silverberg, Scruff's CEO and co-founder, said the company has a focus on moderators and detecting fraud. Facebook, for example, continues to expand its protection against revenge porn, even if Section 230 would protect them.

by Alfred Ng
See full article at CNet

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Grindr Lays Off Its Entire “Into” Editorial Stuff

Posted on January 16, 2019

Grindr into shut downADVOCATE – Jan 16 – Into, Grindr's online LGBTQ publication, laid off its entire editorial staff and its corresponding social media team this week, because "the company will be refocusing its efforts on video." Into, launched in August 2017, had branded itself as an LGBTQ news source that targeted millennials. However, Into's editorial team found itself at odds with management in November, when one of the digital magazine's reporters called out Scott Chen, the president of Grindr, for remarks that appeared to be anti-LGBTQ. Additionally, Into made headlines in December for a commentary piece that called an Ariana Grande music video transphobic and racist. The piece sparked such a strong backlash on social media that editors had to issue an apology and remove the byline of its writer due to death threats.

by Daniel Reynolds
See full article at Advocate

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Who Got the Most News Coverage in 2018?

Posted on January 13, 2019

Press coverage 2018OPW – Jan 13 – Every day we review the news and bubble up what we think are summaries of the most important intell in the most important news items. All year, every day. Then in January we like to do an annual review of the news and let you know who got the most coverage on OPW.news for the prior year. Subscribe here for daily updates.

Here's the rankings for who got the most press coverage on OPW.news in 2018.

  1. Tinder, 182 posts on OPW.news
  2. Bumble, 116 posts
  3. Match Group, 105 posts
  4. Facebook Dating, 58 posts
  5. Grindr, 40 posts
  6. Badoo, 33 posts
  7. eharmony, 33 posts
  8. Match, 29 posts
  9. OKCupid, 28 posts
  10. Hinge, 24 posts

Here's our analysis for 2018

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