Boasting About Storming the Assembly Hall on a Dating App Leads to 'Handcuffs'

US Women Accuse Men Suspected as Rioters
Companies Also Block and Report Rioters
FBI Secures 100,000 Pieces of Evidence via SNS

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Social networking services (SNS) and dating apps are playing an active role in tracking down the rioters involved in the January 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol.

A woman who identified a man who stormed the U.S. Capitol through a dating app has stated that she will report him to the FBI.

According to U.S. media, female users of dating apps such as Bumble and Tinder actively participated in identifying the rioters. Due to the nature of dating apps requiring users to share detailed personal information, the identities of the rioters were revealed. Male rioters shared photos taken during the Capitol breach on dating apps, which made them targets for rioter hunting.

A woman named Alia Awadalla even suggested on Twitter that people find those who appeared to have stormed the Capitol on dating apps and report them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) right after the incident.

The sections where users could indicate their political views also contributed to exposing the rioters. The feature designed to match partners with similar political orientations effectively became a tool to identify rioters. Companies recently suspended this service, citing concerns about potential misuse.

Even if not reported to the FBI, rioters are being expelled from the apps. In the case of Bumble, users who posted about the Capitol breach are being removed. Bloomberg News introduced a case where a user who posted photos taken inside the Capitol during the riot was banned from using Bumble.

The Washington Post also reported that Bumble and Tinder’s parent company, Bumble and Tinder, blocked the Capitol rioters from their dating apps. The company stated, "We prohibit content that incites terrorism and racial discrimination. Capitol rioters are removed immediately upon identification."

Besides dating apps, those who posted verification photos of the Capitol breach on SNS platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat have become targets of the FBI. The FBI requested digital information such as photos to be submitted a day after the incident. Since then, they have secured about 140,000 verification photos, identified over 275 individuals, and charged more than 100 of them.

In addition to tips, arrests have been made with the help of SNS companies, telecommunications providers, and facial recognition technology.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.