Even Dating Apps Are Fighting Hate & Anti-Semitism

There are some unfortunate things about dating apps that we’ll probably never be able to do anything about: some dudes will be dicks, the one person you actually want to hear from won’t ever respond to your perfectly-crafted first line, and you’ll inevitably have to swipe past co-workers and it will be AWKWARD (not speaking from experience or anything).

But one thing we shouldn’t have to put up with is hate and bigotry when you’re just trying to find a damn date. That’s why it’s so heartening to see this announcement today from Bumble, the “feminist Tinder,” that they are teaming up with the Anti-Defamation League to ban all forms of hate from the app.

The statement reads, “While we support freedom of speech, we don’t support abusing that freedom to harm, bully, or attack people online. We’ve historically taken a strong stance on neo-Nazi symbols like swastikas; now we’re working with the Anti-Defamation League and its Center on Technology and Society for guidance on identifying all hate symbols, using their research and terminology as our standards.”

They’re asking users to report any incidents of hate, so now you can look out for Nazis while also looking for a date with a decent job for once. Of course people have always been encouraged to report abusive behavior from users; hopefully this means the app will start to take them a lot more seriously.

Bumble is also running an Instagram campaign, in which for every “like” they get on the below post, they’ll donate $1 to the ADL. It’s only going to 3 pm CST today, so act fast.

A post shared by Bumble (@bumble) on

But wait, there’s more! Longstanding dating platform OkCupid tweeted today that after users discovered a white supremacist in the app, they banned him for life. Hallelujah.

It might seem silly to focus on what dating apps are doing when we’re talking about major issues facing the entire country, but I’m taking it is a nice little sign that more companies are moving in this direction. As for nazis, I guess they’ll have to find their own special dating app for now. Swastikiss, anyone?

 

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