Egyptian police use Grindr to hunt gay men: reports
Egyptian police have been using apps like Grindr to track down and arrest gay men, according to reports.
CairoScene reports that authorities have used apps to arrest and detain members of the LGBT community.
The magazine includes a quote from an unnamed source who says: “There have been a number of arrests in the last few months linked to these applications.”
Authorities, according to the source, have used Grindr and triangulation, to pinpoint users within a few hundreds square meters.
Then, along with the photo on their profile, police identified the users.
“It is possible to tell a user’s position within a few hundred meters,” the source said.
“It baffles me how easily people are willing to share such personal information in a country like Egypt – it is beyond stupid,” added the source.
“I would advise anyone to be careful when dating online.”
This is not the first time members of Egypt’s LGBT community have reported the use of dating apps by authorities to track people down.
Back in 2014, reports suggested police had used Grindr to track down gay men.
Men accused of homosexuality are often accused by Egyptian authorities of “debauchery”, because the country does not have a specific anti-gay law. This new “sting” represents a targeting of the trans community.
Earlier this year, an Egyptian journalist who was jailed for defaming a group of men after filming them at a bath house, was acquitted.
Mona Iraqi faced charges of defamation and spreading false news after a “sting” on 26 men she accused of “perversions” for attending what she said was a gay bath house in Cairo has been sent to jail.
The men arrested were accused of “perversions” as journalist Mona Iraqi told police that the bathhouses were used for “group perversions”.
One reporter posted pictures of the dozens of men, mainly naked, being rounded up during the raid and put into vans.
The bathhouse owner was accused by prosecutors of facilitating the “practice, facilitate and incite debauchery.”
Despite all 26 men being acquitted, the men involved have say they have received rejection, ridicule and abuse from both strangers and loved ones.
One victim even attempted to burn himself to death because of the repercussions for being named in the lawsuit.
