Gay dating app limits location function to protect athletes in Paris

People looking for love with an Olympic athlete may have a tough time this year: Grindr the LGBTQ+ dating app, has disabled some of its location-sharing features to protect athletes from harassment or stalking.

Some users realized this week that they cannot use the “Explore” feature on the app in the Olympic Village in Paris, which allows people to change their location and view profiles.

This was intentional, Grindr confirmed. The company explained in a blog post that for an athlete who is out or comes from a country with strict LGBTQ+ laws, using the app “may put them at risk of being exposed by curious individuals who may attempt to identify and out them.” The app can still be used by people in the Village, although some location services are disabled.

Approximately 155 LGBTQ+ athletes are participating in the Olympics in Paris, according to OutSportswhich is a small fraction of the more than 10,000 participants in the games.

The company is making other changes for the Olympic Village: For example, profiles will now reveal someone’s distance by default with the “show distance” feature. This feature can be turned on, but will default to “off” for users in the Village and other locations. Grindr said this change is to “help athletes connect without worrying about inadvertently revealing their location or being recognized.”

During the two-week event, Grindr will also allow users in the Village to send unlimited disappearing messages or unsend messages for free. These are features that the app normally charges for. Sending private videos and disabling screenshots have also been temporarily disabled if used within that radius.

“Our goal is to help athletes connect without worrying about inadvertently revealing their location or being recognized,” Grindr says, adding that it has placed similar restrictions on previous games.

Grindr began to tighten its Olympic features after 2016, when a straight Daily Beast writer reported using Grindr to meet athletes at the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro. The story, which has since been deleted, sparked furious accusations that the writer had outed gay athletes, whom he did not identify by name but described.

Grindr (GRND) recently announced ambitious growth plans to shed its reputation as a casual dating app, with new tools it hopes will help users find long-term relationships and recommend in-person events. Shares are up more than 30% year to date.

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