The US Central Command allegedly ran an ad campaign in Lebanon on the dating app Tinder, sending a stern warning that America is “fully prepared” to “protect its partners” as tensions continue to boil across the Middle East.
Freelance journalist Séamus Malekafzali posted on X that he hopped on the popular dating app while in Lebanon Thursday, ready to swipe right and left on potential matches, but was instead “greeted by an ad from CENTCOM.”
“US Central Command is fully prepared and ready with F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Tudor Bolt supersonic fighters currently in the region,” one of the ad’s captions read in Arabic, along with a photo of an A-10 warplane.
Another, with a picture of an F-16 fighter jet, told the app’s users not to “take up arms against the United States and its partners.”
“The United States will protect its partners against the threats of the Iranian regime and its proxies,” a final menacing message read.
Malekafzali shared that when he swiped right on the ad, he was brought to a post on X from US Central Command in Arabic, showing off more images of America’s warplanes, with the caption: “An F-16 Fighting Falcon and an A-10 Thunderbolt fly within the US Central Command area of responsibility.”
Tinder has since removed the ads as they “violated” the company’s policies on violent and political messaging, a spokesperson told The Washington Post.
The outlet reported that the Pentagon and US Central Command “declined to comment” on whether the US military was behind in running the intimidating ad campaign.
However, an unnamed defense official told the Washington-based paper that “the Department of Defense does conduct military information operations in support of our national security priorities.”
“These activities must be undertaken in compliance with US law and DOD policy, and we are committed to enforcing those safeguards,” the source shared.
A US military psyops officer speaking anonymously with the outlet also shared that it’s doubtful a campaign of this kind on the dating app “would be very effective,” and it’s more about sending a message.
“This is just an in-your-face ‘don’t mess with me,’” the officer explained.
But, retired Army psyops officer Gittipong “Eddie” Paruchabutr believes the ads could be effective if they were part of a “long-term campaign,” but Tinder isn’t cutting it.
“I’m guessing the average belligerent is probably among a very small subset of Tinder users,” Paruchabutr told the outlet, adding running ads off the US-based dating app in Lebanon was an “unforced error or laziness.”
“To push back against adversaries in the information space, we need more trained influence professionals and we need to hold their leaders accountable when they mess up,” said the former psyops officer.
