Dating app Bumble bans profile images of guns in response to mass shootings

Dating app Bumble will no longer allow users to upload pictures that include guns, the company announced in a blog post Monday night. Moderators of the popular app will scour the existing profiles of nearly 30 million users to flag any photo that includes a deadly weapon, like a knife or firearm, for removal.

There are exceptions to the new rule: Members of the military or law enforcement in uniform will be excluded from the policy, as well as some hobbyists who submit an appeal for their photos. But otherwise, deadly weapons will be scrubbed from existing profiles and blocked from new uploads. "As mass shootings continue to devastate communities across the country, it’s time to state unequivocally that gun violence is not in line with our values, nor do these weapons belong on Bumble," the company wrote in its announcement.

Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd told The New York Times that the app will eventually filter out mentions of guns in profile descriptions as well. The company also announced a commitment to donate $100,000 to March For Our Lives, the organization founded by students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, to coordinate protests against gun violence across the nation.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up