Grindr and the `new cold war`: why US concerns over the app are dangerous
(The Guardian China)

The Chinese-owned app does pose data risks - but wrongly framing such fears can fuel racism and homophobiaFor years, American leaders claimed that the internet would bring free markets and liberal democracy to China. Today, they are more likely to express worry about how Chinese power and Chinese money are reshaping American tech. Conventional strategic areas, like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, have received the most scrutiny. But this week the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) reached an agreement after an investigation of a different kind of target: the popular gay social networking app Grindr.Grindr is based in West Hollywood and boasts more than 27 million users. The Chinese gaming firm Beijing Kunlun Tech Company acquired it over two years, purchasing a 60% stake in January 2016 and the remaining 40% in January 2018. Related: Chinese firm seeks to sell Grindr dating app over US security concerns Who can say definitively what technology is or is not `strategic`?Julian Gewirtz is the author of Unlikely Partners: Chinese Reformers, Western Economists, and the Making of Global China. Moira Weigel is a postdoctoral scholar at the Harvard Society of Fellows, the author of Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating and a founding editor of Logic magazine Continue reading...