Gay Dating Sites Used for Entrapment in Middle East

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has stated that gay dating sites are being used to by police to entrap men across the Middle East.

The group has stated that in countries where homosexuality is illegal, police are using apps and websites to convince men to meet them and then arresting them. Several cases of entrapment have reportedly occurred in such nations.

The group wrote on their website: “In countries where homosexuality remains taboo or punishable by law, it makes sense for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and other queer-identifying people to explore their sexual identity online.

“But the Internet is increasingly becoming a risky place for exploration.

“More and more governments in the region are using digital surveillance to entrap, arrest, detain, and harass individuals who visit LGBTQ websites or chat rooms, or who use social media to protest homophobic laws and social stigmas.

“Meanwhile, nationwide filtering and complicit Internet search companies have censored content relating to homosexuality by blocking websites and restricting keyword searches in countries like Sudan, Yemen, and across the Gulf region.

“State censorship of sexual content abounds online, and LGBTQ content in particular is frequently a target. Support and health websites, and LGBTQ publications are regularly shut down or become inactive.”