Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Have some governments, including Egypt and Russia, used data from dating apps to target LGBTQ people?
Friday, July 17, 2020
By Christopher Hutton
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YES
While dating apps do not directly assist governments in discriminating against LGBTQ individuals, dating apps have been used as tools for targeting LGBTQ individuals. Egyptian police, for instance, have used dating apps to identify men in order to arrest them for their conduct.
Most countries with anti-LGBTQ policies tend to ban LGBTQ-focused apps, making organizing in the community difficult. If a country does not ban the apps outright, access to user data may be demanded by authorities in order to do business there. The Russian government placed Match Group (owners of Match.com, Tinder, and other apps) on a list requiring the online-dating firm to submit all basic user information, including sexual orientation.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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