Arts & Entertainment

Tinder launches safety alert to protect LGBTQ travelers in discriminatory countries

The app will hide gender identity and sexual orientation

Published

7 years ago

July 25, 2019

gay dating apps, gay news, Washington Blade — (Photo by bigtunaonline via Bigstockphoto)

Tinder has launched a new safety feature that will automatically hide LGBTQ users’ profiles when they travel to countries where same-sex relationships are criminalized.

The “Traveler Alert” will notify LGBTQ users that they are “in a place where the LGBTQ community may be penalized,” a list of nearly 70 countries, and will automatically hide their profiles. Before, users could manually hide their sexual orientation and gender identity on the app. Some of the listed countries include South Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Nigeria.

“If you have added a sexual orientation to your profile and choose to be shown on Tinder, we will hide your sexual orientation from your profile until you leave that area,” the company said in a statement.

The app cautions LGBTQ users to know the laws involving homosexuality in the countries they’re visiting and to be wary as “some law enforcement have been known to use dating apps as tools for potential entrapment.”

Users can remain hidden or opt to make their profile public. If a user chooses to keep their profile public, their gender identity and sexual orientation will still remain hidden for protection.

Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

4 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.