Gay dating app Grindr has been blocked within the Paris Olympic Village for the 2024 Summer Games, citing unspecified risks to athlete privacy and safety. This move continues a practice implemented during previous Olympics to protect LGBTQ+ athletes from potential outing and harassment.
Users attempting to access Grindr’s “explore” function within the Olympic Village are met with a “No profiles available” message.The app’s geolocation features have been disabled in the area housing over 14,000 athletes, effectively creating a digital barrier around the village.
Grindr, in a blog stated, “We’re in the game, ensuring LGBTQ+ athletes can connect authentically without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention.”
“If an athlete is not out or comes from a country where being LGBTQ+ is dangerous or illegal, using Grindr can put them at risk of being out,” the blog read further. Thus, the company is replicating and expanding upon measures first implemented during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The app is disabling location-based features within the Olympic Village and other sites where athletic often visit for training and other things. Grindr says it is their “way of ensuring that LGBTQ+ athletes could connect with each other authentically without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention.”
The Paris 2024 organising committee confirmed to media outlets that while dating apps are generally accessible within the Olympic Village, “for some, geolocation has been deactivated by the app publisher.”
This precautionary measure stems from past incidents where athletes’ privacy was compromised. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, a reporter used Grindr to identify gay athletes, potentially outing individuals from countries with anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Similar issues arose after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when social media users shared videos exposing Grindr users’ faces from the Olympic Village.
The 2024 Paris Olympics features a record 146 out LGBTQ+ athletes. However, this represents only a small fraction of the 10,500 total competitors, thus the need for privacy protections. The company states it will continue to assess and adapt its privacy measures for high-profile events like the Olympic Games, balancing user accessibility with the need to protect vulnerable individuals.
Users attempting to access Grindr’s “explore” function within the Olympic Village are met with a “No profiles available” message.The app’s geolocation features have been disabled in the area housing over 14,000 athletes, effectively creating a digital barrier around the village.
Grindr, in a blog stated, “We’re in the game, ensuring LGBTQ+ athletes can connect authentically without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention.”
“If an athlete is not out or comes from a country where being LGBTQ+ is dangerous or illegal, using Grindr can put them at risk of being out,” the blog read further. Thus, the company is replicating and expanding upon measures first implemented during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The app is disabling location-based features within the Olympic Village and other sites where athletic often visit for training and other things. Grindr says it is their “way of ensuring that LGBTQ+ athletes could connect with each other authentically without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention.”
The Paris 2024 organising committee confirmed to media outlets that while dating apps are generally accessible within the Olympic Village, “for some, geolocation has been deactivated by the app publisher.”
This precautionary measure stems from past incidents where athletes’ privacy was compromised. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, a reporter used Grindr to identify gay athletes, potentially outing individuals from countries with anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Similar issues arose after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when social media users shared videos exposing Grindr users’ faces from the Olympic Village.
The 2024 Paris Olympics features a record 146 out LGBTQ+ athletes. However, this represents only a small fraction of the 10,500 total competitors, thus the need for privacy protections. The company states it will continue to assess and adapt its privacy measures for high-profile events like the Olympic Games, balancing user accessibility with the need to protect vulnerable individuals.
