The group joined Grindr and Tinder and began collecting screenshots of the ensuing online conversations to post on PalesTinder. вЂњIt started out when my roommate and I were checking out the Tinder scene here in Ramallah one evening on the couch in our apartment,вЂќ said Caitlin Kent, a 26-year-old from San Francisco who since the middle of June has been teaching English in Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the central West Bank. The new siteвЂ™s manifesto is to see how вЂњthe Israeli occupation of Palestine will be reflected in dating appsвЂќ-and itвЂ™s a fascinating examination of Palestinian-Israeli relations, at least on a small scale. And donвЂ™t be a dick.War or no war, people still want to get laid.ДЄt least thatвЂ™s what an English teacher in Ramallah and six of her peers have found in the 36 hours since they created a Tumblr called PalesTinder that collects screenshots of conversations from the hookup apps Tinder and Grindr. So, to anyone thinking of doing anything like that, be a bit wiser. Out of respect for our usersвЂ™ privacy, and out of respect for the contractual commitments these individuals made, Grindr demands that these individuals remove their social media posts that include images from the Grindr platform.вЂќДЄside from the fact that outing anyone, anywhere is just completely unacceptable, doing it for plaudits or clout on social media is dangerously ignorant and carries a huge impact to those individuals and their families. TikTok removed it for violating community guidelines, but these actions take time and the video had already gone viral.ДЄ spokesperson for Twitter quoted by InsiderВ said the posts вЂњviolated the Twitter Rules against hateful conduct and will need to be removed before the account owners can continue to use Twitter.вЂќДЄ spokesperson for Grindr also saidВ that the users who posted the videos вЂњare in breach of GrindrвЂ™s Terms and Conditions of Service which prohibit them from publicly displaying, publishing, or otherwise distributing any content or information that are part of the Grindr services. One video on TikTok went viral with over 140,000 views, allowing it to be featured onto usersвЂ™ For You Pages, with the poster jovially saying вЂњI used GrindrвЂ™s explore feature to find myself and Olympian boyfriendвЂќ. InsiderВ further reports that at least four athletes have been fully identified by face and name in the posts.

Many countries have laws that prescribe harsh punishments вЂ“ sometimes including death вЂ“ to anyone convicted of homosexual activity. Along with many more where it is still highly stigmatized and therefore potentially dangerous. To reiterate, whilst thereвЂ™s been a lot of coverage this year, possibly from the country you might be in, about how progressive things have become in the sporting world and that is greatвЂ¦ there are several countries represented at the Olympic Games where homosexuality is illegal. Some of which are of athletes who are not publicly out and include at least one athlete from a country where same-sex sexual relations are a crime. In posts unearthed by Insider (posts they have rightly chosen not to share and neither will we), users have then been sharing videos and screen shots of profiles вЂ“ some of which include faces вЂ“ to their own social media. Social media users on TikTok and Twitter have been using Grindr to find athletes in TokyoвЂ™s Olympic Village, by searching profiles on the hook-up app using its explore feature, then attempting to expose them. Presumably either a) thinking theyвЂ™re hilarious, or b) making a dumb attempt to grow their followers with complete disregard for other people and their privacy or safety (or both), 2021 has once again proved that some people just canвЂ™t manage a social media account responsibly. The environment for LGBTQ+ people globally is still, in many places, hostile, dangerous, or punishable by law. In a year where weвЂ™ve been able to celebrate a record number of out athletes competing in the Olympics, some people seem to have forgotten that it is a global event and that the privileges afforded to some countries are not universally offered around the world. Another sterling example of why some people just shouldnвЂ™t be allowed social media.

Grindr screenshots