Grindr starts warning Egyptians in light of arrests

POPULAR gay hook-up/dating app Grindr has reportedly begun to issue warnings to Egyptian users in light of six men being sentenced to two years in prison for homosexual behaviour yesterday.

According to BuzzFeed, Grindr has been sending messages to all of its users in Egypt this week warning that police officers may be “posing as LGBT on social media to entrap” them (pictured above).

The news comes after an Egyptian court on Thursday handed down two years in prison to six men for allegedly promoting their apartment on Facebook for gay sex with a fee of $200 per night, according to state-owned Egyptian news site Ahram Online.

It also comes after eight men were arrested earlier this month over allegations of “inciting debauchery” for appearing in a YouTube video purportedly showing a same-sex marriage aboard a Nile River boat party, where two men exchanged rings and kisses while surrounded by friends.

While consensual homosexual conduct is not explicitly criminalised under Egyptian law, same-sex marriage illegal and men who have sex with men have previously been arrested and punished on morality charges under other laws, including debauchery, immorality or scorning religion.

However, theses latest cases could be the first of its kind in which Egyptians have been caught on social media for charges of homosexuality, something human rights activists have condemned as the regime of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ramps up its crackdown on LGBTI rights. In addition, Egyptian officials reportedly told BuzzFeed that Facebook groups for gay Egyptians were being closely monitored.

Grindr has faced criticism in recent weeks for a design feature that allowed the network to be used to pinpoint the exact location of users.

In response, Grindr stated it was taking measures to keep its users safe in places prone to violence against the gay community, and the “show distance” function reportedly removed in certain regions according to messages on the app.

H/T: BuzzFeed