Thirty-one theses on dating capitalism
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PART TWO — THE GRID
I
Revenue up, payers down
II
Success ends subscriptions
III
Manufactured scarcity
IV
One owner, many brands
Hidden ranking, patented swipe
VI
Volume produces refusal
VII
The app is the destination
VIII
Demographic pricing
IX
Fabricated interest
X
Safety became an upgrade
XI
Intentionality drives growth
XII
Queer platforms consolidated
XIII
Contraction intensifies extraction
XIV
Free users are inventory
XV
Global risk, concentrated revenue
XVI
Health data as telemetry
XVII
Data as national security
XVIII
Membership reveals identity
XIX
Identification without breach
XX
Profiles sold as commodities
XXI
The platform remembers more
XXII
Community versus its workers
XXIII
Extraction is optional
XXIV
Refusal is not innocence
XXV
The grid is optional
XXVI
Filtering is not sorting
XXVII
The applications work
XXVIII
Lifeline and trap
XXIX
Loneliness is the market
XXX
Companionship without reciprocity
XXXI
Named, not stopped
THESIS XVII
PART TWO — THE GRID
The user base has been treated as a national security asset.
The data was considered too sensitive to remain under foreign ownership.
Beijing Kunlun Tech acquired a controlling interest in Grindr in 2016 for $93 million and full ownership by 2018. In 2019 the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States determined that Chinese ownership of the application constituted a national security risk, on the reasoning that its data on sexual orientation, sexual behaviour and health was too sensitive to sit under foreign control, and ordered divestiture. The sale to San Vicente Acquisition closed on 10 June 2020 at approximately $608.5 million. Reuters subsequently reported that the approved buyer had financial and personal links to the seller.
EVIDENCE SNAPSHOT
2016
CONTROL
Controlling investment by Beijing Kunlun Tech
2018
FULL OWNERSHIP
Chinese owner completed full acquisition of Grindr
2019
DIVESTITURE
United States government ordered the divestiture
~$608.5M
SALE
Approximate value of the completed 2020 sale
KEY FINDING
Beijing Kunlun Tech acquired a controlling interest in Grindr in 2016 for $93 million and full ownership by 2018.
IMPLICATION
A dating database can be treated as strategically sensitive intelligence.
Source apparatus
SOURCE 01
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GOVERNMENT ORDER
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. (2019). Divestment order, Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd. / Grindr LLC.
SOURCE 02
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GOVERNMENT ORDER
Wang, E., Alper, A., & Oguh, C. (2020, June 2). Exclusive: Winning bidder for Grindr has ties to Chinese owner. Reuters.