Lebanese Government Orders Nationwide Grindr Ban

Grindr is in the process of being completely banned in Lebanon, as per the instructions of the country’s Telecommunications Ministry. A memo was circulated to every internet service provider citing an order from the public prosecutor’s office.

The government is ordering all access to grindr.com, the app and the web service to be blocked, meaning all users in Lebanon will be affected.

Users had been starting to complain that the gay dating service had been blocked on Ogero, a state-run telecommunications company. After further review, it was found that more providers had started to take action against Grindr.

Commentators are calling the move a limitation of freedom of speech and speculating that it could lead to the LGBTQ+ community being harassed and oppressed.

Tarek Zeidan, executive director of rights group Helem said to The Daily Star Lebanon: “This is not an isolated incident, but yet another attack by Lebanese authorities on the personal rights and freedoms of its own people.

“This ban seems to be nefariously timed to coincide with the ongoing and deeply unpopular austerity measures this government is imposing.”

Grindr had previously been blocked on mobile data connections in Lebanon, meaning it couldn’t be accessed on 4G networks or public WiFi services.

In both instances the government did not issue a specific reason for why the ban was implemented.

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