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Egypt: Grindr warns users ‘police may be posing as LGBT’ after six men sentenced

Sep 26 2014
Written by Aaron Day

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

Grindr has issued a warning to Egyptian users about police entrapment following reports of six men who were sentenced on Thursday after advertising their apartment for sex on social media.

Earlier this month it was claimed that police were exploiting Grindr and other dating sites to hunt members of the LGBT community in Egypt.

Buzzfeed reports that the six men who were sentenced on Thursday may mark the first case in which Egyptians have been caught on social media for charges of homosexuality.

According to ahramonline, the men were sentenced to two years in prison with labour for allegedly advertising their apartment on Facebook for men to have sex with each other for LE200 (£17) a night.

Now Grindr has sent a message to all Egyptian users warning that police officers may be “posing as LGBT on social media to entrap you.”

The message continues: “Please be careful about arranging meetings with people you don’t know, and be careful about posting anything that might reveal your identity.”

Grindr also recently disabled the use of location data in some countries including Egypt, over concerns that users can be tracked down.

While not specifically outlawed, under morality laws punishment for same-sex sexual activity can be up to 17 years in prison with or without hard labour and fines.

Back in May four individuals were arrested during a same-sex party in Cairo.

One man was charged with the longest sentence ever given to an LGBT person in Egypt – twelve years imprisonment.

Earlier this month, seven men were arrested after being seen in a video at a gay wedding ceremony.

The video went viral on social media and was consequently brought to the attention of the local press who condemned the same-sex ceremony.