The lawsuit filed Friday describes how Doe, then a high school student who was not yet gay, downloaded Grindr to make friends with other underage children. He then exchanged photos and explicit messages with the four adult men, who raped him in their homes or in parks, according to the complaint.
After the teen testified in their criminal trials, three of the four men were later convicted of sexually interfering with a child and jailed for terms ranging from 24 to 54 months, according to the lawsuit. The room has not been located.
Accusing the company of being aware that its product is making it easy for children to be raped, the lawsuit equates Grindr with other organizations like the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church that “have turned a blind eye to the systematic exploitation of sexual abuse.” childish”.
He accuses Grindr of marketing to children by virtue of maintaining accounts on Instagram and TikTok, social media platforms where many brands, from other dating apps to liquor companies, also have accounts.
The lawsuit also highlights two TikTok videos, which have since been removed by Grindr, in which the adult content creators pretend to be students outside of a high school or in a physical education class. The lawsuit claims that the latter “takes place explicitly in an elementary, middle, or high school class.”
“With this video on TikTok, Grindr is directly targeting children and targeting them with messages stating both that Grindr should be used at school and that it should be used by children,” the lawsuit states.
from Grindr tik tok accountwhich has more than 138,000 followers, routinely takes on adult content creators who post videos on the company’s behalf.
The lawsuit claims that Grindr could have prevented Doe’s abuse by employing a third-party age verification service, requiring government identification to use the app, or blocking its use in schools, among other things.
Lenihan, the spokesperson for Grindr, said Apple, Google and the entire tech industry need to work together to develop better age-gate technology that also respects user privacy.
Doe is suing Grindr for faulty design, faulty manufacturing, faulty warning, negligence, and negligent misrepresentation. He is also filing a civil action lawsuit. under a section of the US Code. that deals with human trafficking.
