Bumble bans body shaming from app
Bumble’s mission has always been to build a platform rooted in respect and kindness, and they’re taking another step to make their app safer for their community.
They’re doing this by updating their terms and conditions to explicitly ban unsolicited and derogatory comments about someone’s appearance, body shape, size, or health. This includes language that can be deemed fat-phobic, ableist, racist, colourist, homophobic or transphobic.
Body shaming is not acceptable on or off of the Bumble app. For those who may not know, body shaming means forcing your opinion of a ‘good body’ onto others. It can come in the form of sending a message to someone that’s critical of their body or health, or by stating in your Bumble bio that a certain kind of body is unacceptable or undesirable. Body shaming includes fat shaming, health shaming, criticizing skin or hair, thin shaming, unsolicited opinions, and mocking someone’s physical features.
Body shaming can harm its recipients’ mental and even physical health, so if you’re not sure if a message will come across as body shaming, a good rule of thumb is not to comment on another user’s body or health at all. Find something else about their profile to talk about. Or, if you’re not interested in someone, you can swipe left.
People who use body shaming language in their profile or through the Bumble app’s chat function will receive a warning for their inappropriate behaviour, and repeated incidents or particularly harmful comments will result in being banned from the platform. If body shaming happens to you on Bumble, you can report it using tools within the app, including Block & Report, Unmatch & Report, and Hide & Report.
Let’s work together to create a kinder and more accepting internet for everyone.
Earlier this month, Bumble surveyed* over 2700 single Indians to find out how body shaming has affected their lives. The stark findings include:
- 44% of respondents have been made to feel insecure about their body in the past year
- 38% of respondents stated that people are more likely to make unsolicited comments online, 29% in-person and 33% both online and in-person
- 75% of respondents feel that they are more likely to feel physically judged while dating compared than other areas of life
Bumble users can also report someone for body shaming within the app using its Block + Report tool. Bumble is also encouraging their community to report bad behaviour through their in-app reporting to enforce this specific set of guidelines.
Bumble app: Bumble, the women-first social networking app, was founded by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014. Bumble connects people across dating (Bumble Date), friendship (Bumble BFF) and a professional networking (Bumble Bizz). No matter the type of relationship, women make the first move on Bumble. Bumble is built on the importance of equitable relationships and how crucial they are to a healthy, happy life. They’ve built their platform around kindness, respect, and equality – and their community plays an important part in that. Bumble holds its users accountable for their actions and has zero-tolerance for hate, aggression, or bullying.
