by Stian Alexander
See full article at TheSun.co.uk
Mark Brooks: Tinder has experienced explosive growth, so its only natural that the number of Tinder connected and reported crimes rises in unison. All sizable dating apps should have people ready to work with police and assist with reported crimes, and deal quickly with subpoenas. Or they will end up suffering the consequences in the press for not acting swiftly.
TIME – Sep 14 – Zhou Yahui, who purchased a controlling share in the gay-dating app Grindr early this year, was ordered by a Beijing court to hand over 705.4M shares of his online gaming company, Beijing Kunlun Tech, to his wife Li Qiong in a divorce settlement. The shares are worth about $1.1B based on the stock's closing price of $3.90 per share on the day of the ruling, making it one of the most expensive divorce settlements China has ever seen.
HINDUSTAN TIMES – Sep 8 – Online matchmaking in India has come a long way since shaadi.com launched in 1996. Tinder, launched in India in 2014, followed by Indian dating apps TrulyMadly (2015) and ekCoffee (2016). The earliest queer dating platform, PlanetRomeo, launched worldwide in 2002. It claims 3M users globally and India comprises 7% of that. Grindr, with 10M users worldwide, recorded a gradual increase from 11k to 69k monthly users between 2011 and 2015 from India. The figures convinced Scruff, an American dating app for men, to enter India in July this year.
by Poorva Joshi
See full article at Hindustan Times
THE JERUSALEM POST – Aug 25 – Egyptian government authorities have reportedly been using gay dating apps to locate and detain members of the LGBT community, according to online lifestyle and entertainment magazine CairoScene. The outlet claimed that the online dating apps, such as Grindr, are jeopardizing the safety of the conservative Muslim country's homosexual population.
IBTIMES – July 23 – In 2012 'Grindr for equality' was launched to raise awareness of gay health issues and rights. One initiative particularly stood out… its work to inform users about PrEP. PrEP is for people who are at very high risk of HIV. It involves taking a daily combination of two HIV medicines sold under the name Truvada which prevents people from contracting the virus. Truvada for PrEP provides a 92%-99% reduction in HIV risk for HIV-negative individuals. Last year, Grindr conducted a survey which revealed that only 1 in 4 Grindr users was on PrEP in the US. 72% said they were interested in starting someday, but many pointed out a lack of info. "Following our survey, we decided to make PrEP a key priority for 2016", said Jack Harrison Quintana, director of Grindr for Equality. In the most recent survey, Grindr found that ~46% of respondents were now taking PrEP.
NEW YORK TIMES – July 11 – The study used banner ads on Grindr to offer free test kits. Recipients received a kit in the mail, a voucher that could be redeemed for a kit at a pharmacy, or a code that would produce a kit from a vending machine in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. The study was confined to Los Angeles, and fewer than 400 test kits were distributed, but the idea has broader potential.
by Donald G. McNeil Jr.
See full article at The New York Times