When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Turkey

Smartphone App For Gays Banned In Turkey, Prostitution Cited

Grindr, in the crosshairs of Turkish justice
Grindr, in the crosshairs of Turkish justice
Elif İnce

ISTANBUL — The battle over gay rights in Turkey is now centered around a smartphone app.

A Turkish court has banned the application Grindr, which gives gay men a way to meet and share information, on grounds of obscenity and misuse of personal information. The ban went into effect last month after the 14th Anatolia Criminal Court of Istanbul ruled in favor of an anonymous complainant who charged Grindr with using his personal data without consent. The court described the app as “a friendship website that has gay members,” and “features prostitution and obscenity.”

According to the app’s creator Joel Simkhai, who found out about the motivation of the court’s ruling in Radikal, Grindr — together with gay rights activists — will appeal the decision. The U.S.-based app has approximately 6 million users worldwide, including 125,000 who access it in Turkey each month. “Your country has the most users for us in the Middle East,” Simkhai said. “But now Turkey is also the only country which has banned Grindr with a court order.”

The app’s founder said it is used by “hundreds of thousands of men in the Middle East not only for meeting each other, but also for sharing information on a safe platform, and solidarity thanks to technology.”

Simkhai concluded, “They used to burn books; now their method for limiting people’s freedom of speech is stopping their access to technology.”

Omer Akpinar, media coordinator for the NGO Kaos GL LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) which will join Grindr in the appeal against the court order, said no visuals with sexual content are shared on the app, and that profile photos must be approved by management.

Being gay is not easy in Turkish society,” Akpinar said. “That makes the Internet an important tool for LGBTs to socialize and get information." Technologies like this are essential for the propagation of crucial health information. When they are shuttered, LGBTs lose not only a critical resource but also freedom of expression and communication.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

In Nicaragua, A Tour Of Nightlife Under Dictatorship

Nicaraguan publication Divergentes takes a night tour of entertainment spots popular with locals in Managua, the country's capital, to see how dictatorship and emigration have affected nightlife.

In Nicaragua, A Tour Of Nightlife Under Dictatorship

The party goes on...

Divergentes

MANAGUA — Owners of bars, restaurants and nightclubs in the Nicaraguan capital have noticed a drop in business, although some traditional “nichos” — smaller and more hidden spots — and new trendy spots are full. Here, it's still possible to dance and listen to music, as long as it is not political.

There are hardly any official statistics to confirm whether the level of consumption and nightlife has decreased. The only reliable way to check is to go and look for ourselves, and ask business owners what they are seeing.

This article is not intended as a criticism of those who set aside the hustle and bustle and unwind in a bar or restaurant. It is rather a look at what nightlife is like under a dictatorship.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest