Queering Technology: Forced Identification and Lack of Protection by Social Media Platforms
Since the expansion of the Internet in the early 1990's, it has served as both a positive and negative space for queer users. It is fair to say that anyone that uses the Internet frequently is subject to harassment and discrimination, but the LGBTQ community is one that suffers the most online as they not only face oppression from other users but also from privacy policies and the coding of social media platforms. Queer Facebook users were hit hard by the introduction of the real names policy, a condition of the platform that forced all users to enter their legal name that appears on documents such as birth certificates or a driver's license. Trans and other gender non-conforming individuals were immediately locked out of their accounts and were told that they could make a "fan page" if they did not want to comply with the new rules. Instead of actually ensuring privacy for its users, policies like this one are "technocratic solutions that normalize the policing of non-normative identities and do little to help prevent abuse" (MacAulay & Moldes, 2016, pg. 7). Forcing queers to submit such personal information only puts them more at risk and does not allow them to have the autonomy that other users have.
Privacy is particularly important for L.G.B.T.Q. people.
The lack of safety for the LGBTQ community across social media platforms transfers to dating apps as well. The article above by Ari Ezra Waldman explains how dating apps, even when designed for a queer audience like Grindr, use victim blaming instead of instilling protection policies for their LGBTQ users. This is an extremely serious problem as the queer community has a higher use of dating apps than heterosexuals, yet they are not safeguarded. The author includes data from one peer-reviewed study that states that "87.4 percent of gay male app users reported sharing “graphic, explicit or nude photos or videos” of themselves" (Waldman, 2019). Since the percentage is so high, many individuals that share these photos have found themselves to be the victim of revenge porn, blackmail, or harassment. Instead of protecting their users that are suffering from this abuse, "they blame victims for sharing intimate images, as if victims are responsible for the bad behavior of their abusers" (Waldman, 2019). The federal law known as Communications Decency Act Section 230 also immunizes social media platforms, including dating apps, from taking responsibility for the harmful actions of their users, meaning queer victims stand no chance in court if they were to take their harassment case to a higher level.
References
MacAulay, M., & Moldes, M. D. (2016, April 11). Queen Don't Compute: Reading and Casting Shade on Facebook's Real Names Policy. Taylor & Francis Online. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15295036.2015.1129430
Waldman, A. E. (2019, June 20). Queer Dating Apps are Unsafe by Design. The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/opinion/queer-dating-apps.html