‘It’s mostly just talking’: Berlin police raise eyebrows with response to Tinder social distancing question

Groups of more than two people have been banned from gathering on German streets. However, there is no law against meeting with a total stranger, as Berlin police have clarified.

The ban imposed on Monday is meant to restrict contact to immediate families (which are exempt from the rule) with the goal of limiting the transmission of the deadly coronavirus. But there are some personal goals that require you to meet with new people: finding your one true love, for example – or at least a one-night stand.

As Berlin police, tasked with enforcing the ban, were explaining the peculiarities of the new rules to the public, one (presumably very law-abiding) citizen asked whether Tinder dates were still OK.

“In our experience, dating through Tinder happens in pairs,” came the response. “And it’s mostly just talking.”

Some commenters leapt at the opportunity to show how exactly a Tinder date could be more than talking while ostensibly remaining in line with social distancing guidelines. Others grumbled about officers wasting time inventing clever answers to rhetorical questions and scoring likes instead of helping people with genuine enquiries.

While cops in Germany are accommodating towards singletons, the same cannot be said of their counterparts in Spain. Last Sunday, police in Catalonia arrested a woman who skipped quarantine to visit a man she’d just met through a dating app. There was an aggravating factor in her arrest, however – she resisted the officers when they told her to go home.

Online dating services are currently experiencing a surge in popularity in countries affected by Covid-19 lockdowns. But with bars and restaurants closed and infection concerns on everyone’s mind, there is a general shift towards keeping the budding relationships virtual rather than going face-to-face.

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