Grindr, a popular social networking app for gay men, has issued a warning to its users in Egypt following reports that police are impersonating users on the platform to make arrests of LGBTQ+ individuals. Whenever users in Egypt open the app, a warning in both English and Arabic appears, stating that Egyptian police are actively making arrests of gay, bisexual, and trans people on digital platforms. The police are reportedly using fake accounts and taking over accounts of real community members who have been arrested and had their phones taken.
This warning comes after a Human Rights Watch report from February claimed that authorities in multiple countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt, use fake accounts to entrap and arrest LGBTQ+ people.
Although homosexuality is not technically illegal in Egypt, authorities have been accused of using ‘public morality’ or ‘debauchery’ laws to arrest members of the LGBTQ+ community. The US State Department’s 2021 report acknowledged violence targeting the LGBTQ+ community in Egypt. Grindr has sent similar warnings to users in 90 countries and is pushing for justice and safety for the Egyptian LGBTQ+ community.
Patrick Lenihan, head of global communications for Grindr, stated that LGBTQ+ individuals in Egypt have long faced discrimination, but police efforts have increased in recent weeks. Grindr has been fined in Norway and received criticism in the US over its privacy policy, which has been accused of sharing personal data with third parties that could identify users. However, the company maintains that its privacy policy aims to protect user data and put users in control of as much of the Personal Information that they share within the Grindr Properties as possible.
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