Is it our imagination BUT now that there will be more out-gay competitors (44 and counting) in this year’s Winter Olympics they are officially going to block GRINDR from the Olympic Village?   The people at the hook-up app have said they decided to block its location-sharing feature in a bid to protect the privacy of athletes, especially those whose countries have restrictive LGBTQ+ laws.  Which we think simply does not add up! 

When questioned about their decision, GRINDR added, “those who aren’t out or who come from countries where being gay is dangerous or illegal, that visibility creates real safety risks.”

“Someone outside the Village could browse profiles inside it. Distance data could be used to pinpoint someone’s exact location. And simply appearing on Grindr tells the world something about a person’s identity that, in more than 60 countries, remains a criminal offence.”

So Grindr have decided to turn off the Explore and Roam feature and the Show Distance feature within the boundaries of the Olympic Village. so athletes will still be able to use the hook-up app; however, Grindr will not broadcast their location.

This is not the first instance of Grindr blocking location-sharing features in the Olympic Village. The app took similar measures during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the Summer 2024 Olympics in Paris.