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Anyone hoping to use the LGBTQ dating app Grindr in the Paris Olympic Village will find themselves out of luck. Reports indicate that the app has disabled its “explore” function in the village, which will host nearly 15,000 athletes during the Games, starting Friday, July 26. Social media posts reveal that users attempting to explore the Olympic Village find no profiles at all, which is unusual given Grindr’s 13 million monthly users worldwide. This limitation aims to prevent athletes from being outed against their will and to protect them from potential harassment. A similar approach was taken during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when Grindr restricted access within the Olympic Village to prevent users from viewing athletes’ profiles. This measure aimed not only to prevent harassment but also to protect athletes from being outed, particularly those from countries where homosexuality is illegal or stigmatized. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, a Daily Beast reporter faced accusations of outing several athletes through the app in the Olympic Village. The article was later removed due to a substantial backlash. The Verge reports that users logging into Grindr within the Paris Olympic Village will see the message: “Your privacy is important to us. Our explore feature has been disabled in the Olympic Village so that people outside your immediate area can’t browse here.”

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Queer News Tonight