Grindr limits location features to protect Olympic athletes

Grindr, the LGBTQ+ dating app, has deactivated some of its location-sharing features during the Olympics in Paris to protect athletes from harassment or prosecution. The ‘Explore’ feature, which allows users to change their location and view profiles, has been turned off in the Olympic Village to prevent athletes from being outed by curious individuals. That move aims to safeguard athletes, especially those from countries with strict LGBTQ+ laws, from potential risks.

Approximately 155 LGBTQ+ athletes are attending the Paris Olympics, a small fraction of the over 10,000 participants. Grindr has also turned off the ‘show distance’ feature by default in the Village, allowing athletes to connect without revealing their whereabouts. Additional temporary measures include free unlimited disappearing messages and the ability to unsend messages, while private video sharing and screenshot functions have been turned off within the Village radius.

These changes follow a precedent set after the 2016 Rio Olympics, where a journalist’s report on using Grindr to meet athletes led to accusations of outing gay athletes. Grindr’s adjustments aim to ensure privacy and safety for athletes while still allowing them to connect during the games. Meanwhile, Grindr is expanding its services to promote long-term relationships and in-person events, with its stock seeing significant growth this year.