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New Scruff Feature Warns When You're In A Country Where Homosexuality Is Illegal

Gay dating app Scruff may be the perfect tool for finding that late night hookup, but could quickly become dangerous if the person on the other end is there for homophobic reasons. This has specifically become a concern in countries where homosexuality is illegal.

“This feature of the GPS-enabled app that was so exciting for us here in the United States, being able to meet guys nearby, became something of a liability for our members that were in other regions and other countries where homosexuality is criminalized,” said Scruff co-founder Eric Silverberg.

For this reason, Scruff will be implementing a new travel feature this week to help keep users as safe as possible. An alert will now pop up when a user opens the app in one of the nearly 100 countries where homosexuality is illegal.

If you were visiting Nigeria, for example, the app would present the following warning:

"The country you have recently entered has laws that criminalize sexual acts between consenting adult males as well as laws that criminalize gay activism and public gatherings.

Persons convicted of such acts may be subject to one or more of the following:

-Imprisonment for up to 14 years

-Death Penalty

-Islamic Sharia Law, which can impose severe punishments for same-sex acts

Please exercise additional caution when sharing personal details and meeting people in this country."

In addition, a future Scruff update will also feature a new flag that allows a user to choose “entrapment” as a reason to report a user who seems dangerous.

h/t: The New York Times

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