With the Kremlin restricting social media apps in Russia as it seeks to control the narrative around the invasion of Ukraine, users around the world are finding unconventional ways to connect with Russians.
One of them is Tinder.
Paying members of the popular dating app - who have a feature where they can match and chat with users in other countries - are being encouraged to change their location to Moscow or St Petersburg to send a unified statement.
The statement, which is uploaded as the lead picture, calls on Russians to oppose President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and paints a picture of the plight felt by Ukrainians.
“Please don’t turn away, don’t turn a blind eye – innocent people like you and me are dying in Ukraine," a translation of the statement, written in Russian, reads.
“They too wanted love, [to] live and get acquainted – now they sit in basements …lose their loved ones and relatives, freeze, starve, cry.
The statement in Russian on a Tinder urging citizens to oppose President Vladimir Putin's invasion.
"Come out, speak out, write – show that you are against it! Do not be complicit in this horror. Silence is a sign of consent. A president without the people is nothing!"
Russian police detained more than 1,700 people at anti-war protests across dozens of cities last week, as thousands took to the streets after troops were sent to invade Ukraine.
Anti-war protesters are arrested by security forces in Moscow, Russia. Source: Anadolu / Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
"Alexei Navalny has called for people to go out and protest against the war every day at 7pm and on weekends at 2pm. The main squares of your towns, wherever you are," spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote.
René, a 34-year-old salesman from Germany, is behind the Tinder push.
“We understand it is not a people’s war it is Putin’s war,” he told The Feed.
He said he had the idea after he saw Ukrainians and supporters online bombard the Google Reviews of restaurants, attractions, and landmarks in Russia with anti-war slogans.
About 6.6 million users have paid Tinder subscriptions, according to 2020 figures released by Statista.
It is unclear how many people have since followed René's efforts, but he said he's come across others while swiping on the app.
Another Tinder user who has shared the statement to her profile. Credit: Supplied
René added that it was also a way to connect to people in Russia at a time when their government is cracking down on social media apps in the country.
Russia is restricting social media apps in the country
The Kremlin has blocked and restricted a number of major social media apps as it seeks to control the narrative around its invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, Moscow started restricting Meta’s platform Facebook, accusing it of "censoring" Russia after Facebook said it would be restricting state-backed media.
Hours later, the Kremlin blocked access to Twitter after it announced it would stop Russians from advertising on the platform.
The Twitter block was first reported Saturday morning by NetBlocks, a digital advocacy group that tracks internet outages across the globe.
“Network data show that access to the Twitter platform and back-end servers are restricted on leading networks including Rostelecom, MTS, Beeline, and MegaFon as of 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning,” the company wrote on its website.
Later, Facebook spokesperson Nick Clegg said in a tweet that the Russian government ordered the company to stop "fact-checking" Russian state-owned media organisations on its platform.
“We refused,” he stated on Twitter. “Ordinary Russians are using our apps to express themselves and organize for actions. We want them to continue to make their voices heard, share what’s happening and organize.”
