TikTok and Twitter users have been slammed for exposing queer athletes at the Olympics in Tokyo by sharing their Grindr profiles.
The social media platforms’ users have used Grindr’s “Explore” feature to navigate to the Tokyo’s Olympic Village.
Insider has reported at least four TikTok posts and 10 tweets have included profiles of Olympic athletes.
Some shared screen recordings showing the athlete’s faces, names and identifying details.
In one video, a TikTok user declares, “I used Grindr’s explore feature to find myself an Olympian boyfriend.”
TikTok then distributed the video to users’ “For You” pages and it received more than 140,000 views.
Homosexuality is still illegal – and even punishable by death – in some countries currently competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
Many commenters pointed this out to one of the TikTokers.
“Don’t put these peeps in jeopardy just to get off on the other side of the world,” one person wrote.
TikTok later removed that video for violating the app’s community guidelines.
Grindr condemns posts outing athletes at Olympics
Grindr condemned the posts , which the company said breached their rules.
Reposting the athletes’ profiles on social media is “in breach of Grindr’s terms and conditions of service,” a spokesperson said.
Under the rules, Grindr users are prohibited “from publicly displaying, publishing, or otherwise distributing any content or information” that is part of its services, the company said.
“Out of respect for our users’ privacy, and out of respect for the contractual commitments these individuals made, Grindr demands that these individuals remove their social media posts that include images from the Grindr platform.”
A Twitter spokesperson also said the tweets about Olympians “violated the Twitter Rules against hateful conduct”.
“[The posts] will need to be removed before the account owners can continue to use Twitter,” a spokesperson said.
More openly LGBTIQ athletes at Tokyo 2020 than ever before
There are more openly LGBTIQ athletes competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games than ever before, at over 160.
After winning his first Olympic gold medal this week, out British diver Tom Daley gave an inspiring message to young people.
“I feel incredibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion,” he said.
“I hope any young LGBT+ person out there can see, no matter how alone you feel right now, you’re not alone and you can achieve anything.”
For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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