No one should feel attacked on dating apps, whether that takes the form of being shamed for how they look, being the victim of racist comments or ableist language and more. Now, one dating app is taking a stand so that its users will be more protected during their search for love: Bumble announced today that it has introduced a new policy banning identity-based hate and hate speech.
In a press release, Bumble defined identity-based hate as “content, imagery or conduct that promotes or condones hate, dehumanization, degradation, or contempt against marginalized or minoritized communities with the following protected attributes: race, ethnicity, national origin/nationality, immigration status, caste, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, serious health condition, or religion/belief.”
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Bumble wants its policy to lead the way for other dating apps
The app wants to police hate speech by keeping members safe and allowing them to be themselves. “As a platform rooted in kindness and respect, we want our members to connect safely and free from hate that targets them simply for who they are,” said Azmina Dhrodia, Bumble’s Safety Policy Lead, in the release.
“We want this policy to set the gold standard of how dating apps should think about and enforce rules around hateful content and behaviours. We were very intentional to tackle this complex societal issue with principles celebrating diversity, enforcing equity and understanding how those with overlapping marginalized identities are disproportionately targeted with hate.”
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Gender-nonconforming users are increasingly targeted with false reports
While identity-based hate affects many marginalized communities, Bumble pointed out that it is increasingly negatively impacting gender-nonconforming individuals such as nonbinary and trans users on the app. The company found that 90 per cent of user reports that accused gender-nonconforming people of having fake profiles were eventually dismissed, meaning that the app may now take action against people who falsely report other users because of their identities. Currently, Bumble users can protect themselves by reporting someone for identity-based hate using the “Block + Report” feature.
Dhrodia said that the platform will not hesitate to permanently remove a user that consistently goes against Bumble’s policies or guidelines.
“Our moderation team will review each report and take the appropriate action. Part of rolling out this policy included required implicit bias training and discussion sessions with all safety moderators to unpack how bias can exist when moderating content,” she said.
