Bumble, a popular dating app among millennials, banned guns from its profile pictures, the company announced.
Bumble, a popular dating app among millennials, has banned guns from its profile pictures, the company announced.
“Big social issues are a huge topic of conversation at Bumble and always have been,” a spokesperson told the Daily News. “Users have sent us complaints about other users posting images with guns (and we decided), because of what they represent in our culture, that it’s not appropriate on our platform.”
The company also released a statement that said it feels as if it has a responsibility to “encourage accountability offline,” citing mass shootings and gun violence as “not in line” with its values. All photos — both new and previously uploaded — will be reviewed for such content. Bumble noted that members of the military and law enforcement officers in uniform will be excluded from this new rule.
“It’s not a political thing,” the spokesperson told The News, “and it has nothing to do with anything outside of the app. We’re trying to create the safest environment possible.”
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Bumble — which puts the onus on women to make the first move — also announced that it is making a $100,000 donation to the March For Our Lives, the organization and rally founded by the survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting.
“We stand with them, and join them in working towards a non-violent future,” Bumble said.
Dating site OkCupid has taken a similar stance against guns within its platform. A representative told The News over email that it has “been connecting people based on the issues that matter to them, gun control issues included,” and that over 74% of its users believe that the U. S. would be “less safe if more people in the country owned guns.”
The company recently launched an ad campaign called “DTFilter out the far right,” alongside a photo of a handgun dangling over a toilet bowl.
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And the app Coffee Meets Bagel — a platform that matches women to men who express interest in their profiles after a series of “like” or “pass” rounds — specifically lists guns among the photo features and profile details it does not tolerate.
“When someone signs up with a gun in their photos, they are initially not approved and sent an email (that reads,) ‘hey we couldn’t approve your photos,'” Coffee Meets Bagel Head of Customer Experience, Melissa Rosen, told The News. “They need to remove it and upload a new photo in order to get approved and be shown to other matches.”
“Personally, I’ve spoken to a handful of people over the years who had guns in their photos,” she continued, “and they wrote in unaware why they were unapproved and actually most of them completely understood and quickly replaced the photo.”
But many other dating applications, while adamantly denouncing images of violence, were less resolute about where they stood on images of guns on their platforms.
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Tinder has a policy in place that allows managers to remove “inappropriate” images that depict nudity, obscenities or violence.
“Tinder has always been staunchly opposed to any images and behavior that could make users feel unsafe,” Tinder Head of Brand Rosette Pambakian told The News via email, “including images of weapons that could be perceived as violent or threatening, and these are strictly forbidden.”
Dating site Plenty of Fish does not make any reference to guns on its “community rules” page, instead noting that members agree to not post anything “sexually explicit or pornographic, (that) incites violence or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.”
The pro-President Trump site Trump. Dating — where the only two options for members are “straight man” or “straight woman” — simply notes in its terms of use that users are prohibited from posting “photographs that are sexual in nature or sexually suggestive,” but makes no note of violence, guns or any other weapons.
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A representative from the dating app Hinge said that users are encouraged to show off their hobbies — which may include hunting or skeet shooting — but that the site uses its discretion to weed out images it deems inappropriate; depending on any give user’s assumed intentions behind the photos.
“Our member’s safety is and always will be our number one priority,” the spokesperson said.
For the gun-lovers among the digital pool of potential daters, there’s Concealed Carry Match, a site completely dedicated to “fostering relationships between like-minded individuals” who “believe in this Second Amendment right.”
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While the site follows suit with most other dating platforms in forbidding sexually graphic or violent images, it certainly does not shy away from encouraging users to share in their passions for firearms.
“Whether you are a gun owner or just wanting to meet one, all are welcome!” the CCM homepage reads. “We welcome all individuals who share pro-firearm ownership beliefs.”
