Manipulated by predators, sold for sex: 12 survivors of online sexual exploitation denied justice

10. Doe v. Grindr Inc. (9th Cir. 2025)

In the spring of 2019, John Doe created an account on an LGBT dating application called Grindr. Even though he was only 15, John Doe signed up for Grindr by claiming that he was over the age of 18. 

From April 4 through April 7, 2019, the application matched John Doe with four adult men, all of whom he alleges raped him. NCOSE argued that Grindr should be held accountable for the young man's rape, as it failed to verify John Doe's age and matched him with adult predators. 

"But when John and his family filed a lawsuit against Grindr for facilitating this child sexual abuse, the court dismissed the case under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act," NCOSE wrote. "Section 230 has been interpreted to protect tech companies from facing repercussions when their platforms harm their users, even when the company clearly took an active role in causing that harm." 

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman

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