In light of the heightening tensions between America’s left and right, the dating app Bumble has removed the politics filter. That means you can’t find love anymore on the platform based on political affiliation, nor can you filter out unwanted Trumpsters, racists, facists, nazis, lefists, socialists and communists. The company said it removed the feature to stop terrorism and violence. It has also removed the accounts of anyone who has been confirmed as a participant at the January 6, U.S. Capitol protest.
Now, users of the app will go in blind on their date unless they ask their date their political affiliation. It will be interesting to see what happens when a far-right activist male sets up a date with a radical-left protester female. If he didn’t get the message when she insisted on a vegan eatery, the prospect could cause for an awkward moment when he shows up with his confederate flag shirt and “MAGA” hat and she sits there stunned with her green and blue hair and multiple piercings.
Who knows, maybe they can actually use those sorts of encounters to begin bridging the political divide in America.
“We have temporarily removed our politics filter in the U.S. to prevent misuse. Don’t worry; it will be reinstated in the future,” bumble said. “Rest assured that we prohibit any content that promotes terrorism or racial hatred, and we’ve already removed any users that have been confirmed as participants in the attack of the US Capitol.”
Users responded to the company’s Twitter page announcing they are leaving the platform.
“Then people would be nuts to use your app. They might accidentally end up with a MAGA hat on a date and that could be dangerous,” one user said.