Bumble bans users from posing with guns in dating profile photos

'We're going to be part of the solution'

(Bumble)

Bumble has banned its users from posting photos of themselves holding guns.

In light of the string of mass shootings that have taken place in the US in recent months that have subsequently led a number of businesses to cut ties with the NRA, the dating app’s new ruling forms part of a nationwide call to tackle gun control.

With nearly 30 million users worldwide, Bumble’s initiative is bound to make quite an impact.

The Austin, Texas-based app announced its plans on Monday, revealing that 5,000 moderators have been employed to remove any gun-related content from the app, aside from users in military or law enforcement uniform.

“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 brand said in a statement.

“From today on, we will begin the process of moderating all new and previously uploaded photos for the presence of guns. Our terms and conditions will be updated to reflect this decision.”

Bumble will also be donating $100,000 to March For Our Lives, the organisation founded by survivors of the tragic Parkland shooting.

“We stand with them, and join them in working towards a non-violent future,” the statement continues.

However, Bumble clarified it will not censor any images taken from Instagram that can appear in the profiles of people who have integrated the photo-sharing app into their profile.

“We just want to create a community where people feel at ease, where they do not feel threatened, and we just don’t see guns fitting into that equation,” Bumble’s founder and chief executive Whitney Wolfe Herd told the New York Times.

The new policy comes after Bumble received a number of complaints regarding gun photos and Herd fully intends to address verbal mentions of guns in users’ profiles too, with the hope of ultimately filtering them out altogether.

She also clarified that her decision to initiate this policy was not driven by politics or by a “hatred of people’s personal beliefs or choices”.

“Not everyone’s going to love us for it, but it’s the right thing to do.”