Where is grindr based

In , serial killer Stephen Port was jailed for killing four young men and raping four others. He used Grindr to set up his killings. Any new technology can be used for terrible purposes. But Mark fears Grindr has left a "wreckage" in its wake, by making it easier for lonely or isolated men to meet people offering drugs and chem-sex parties. Officially, Grindr's community guidelines prohibit "mentions or photos of drugs and drug paraphernalia, including emoji" but that does not deter everyone.

Some profiles openly advertise HNH high and horny meet-ups. The diamond emoji is often used by people offering crystal meth. Grindr is not to blame for gay and bi men taking drugs, but it may have made it more accessible. The licensed trade has to control what happens on our premises. Why don't they? Since the publication of this article, the company told the BBC that privacy remained its "top priority" and all user data was stored in the United States.

One of the first changes after the acquisition was the launch of the Kindr Grindr campaign, designed to "address issues such as sexual racism, transphobia, and body shaming".

The app also changed its community guidelines. Now, anybody using racist or dehumanising language on their profiles can be banned if reported.

Looking ahead, Jack hopes Grindr will continue to evolve and tackle toxic behaviour. We want our users to have meaningful and authentic experiences.

In the coming year, we will be rolling out new features, showcasing real stories of real users, getting involved in community events, and finding more ways to give back to the LGBT community," a spokeswoman said. In the fast-paced world of apps and websites, market leaders can be quickly toppled. If Kunlun wants Grindr to stay ahead, it will need to do all it can to make its app a welcoming and desirable place for men to meet.

If you've been affected by issues explored in this article, BBC Action Line has links to helpful resources including information about drugs and sexual orientation. Gay dating app Grindr to sell shares. How a kinder Grindr is trying to tackle racism. Jeff and I are both very supportive of the gay community. So even though we may not be gay, we do support the community. We will hire people from the gay community around us.

And I do believe that we have the right backgrounds to be able to run this type of business. You have to listen. You have to be curious. You have to be open. You have to be transparent. From the business side, it was also a rare opportunity to be able to invest in and buy a dominant player in this category that has incredibly loyal and happy users, and that has been there for over a decade. We take that responsibility seriously. And the more we learned about Grindr, the more excited we got. I just got off two phone calls this morning, and I was, like, really jazzed.

Why is the company worth that much today? It is highly profitable and growing quickly. When Kunlun came in roughly three years ago to acquire the company, it was not nearly as large as it is today. I would say that the valuation paid accurately reflects that growth. Grindr has come under fire for data privacy issues in recent years, mostly related to sharing user data with third-party advertisers. How do you plan to address those problems? One of the advantages we have is bringing in that experience.

Last time I worked at Yahoo, I had 3, people reporting into me, running multiple billions of dollars of the business. And there is no binary state of a product being perfectly safe or perfectly unsafe. CFIUS' subsequent intervention in the Grindr deal underscored its focus on the safety of personal data, after it blocked the acquisitions of U.

O and mobile marketing firm AppLovin by Chinese bidders. Democratic U. Reuters reported last year that Kunlun had given some Beijing-based engineers access to the personal information of millions of Americans, including private messages and HIV status.

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