Bumble Hires 5,000 Temp Moderators to Ban Guns from Profiles

Whitney Wolfe Herd‘s Bumble is moving to ban images of guns from profiles following recent mass shootings in the USA.

The Austin-based site joins a string of companies, including Dicks Sporting Goods, to make changes in the wake of the tragedy.

It has hired 5,000 contracted moderators to go through all the existing images and newly uploaded images on profiles, TechCrunch reports.

Wolfe Herd described the ban as Bumble taking a hard stance against the normalisation of violence on its service.

There will be an appeals process included in the change, and some images may still be permitted (e.g. competitive sports shooters).

Military and law enforcement personnel will still be allowed to have images of guns on their profiles.

Bumble is also set to make a $100,000 donation to March For Our Lives, the new organization founded by survivors of the Parkland shooting.

“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,” said Wolfe Herd.

“If I could police every other social platform in the world, I would,” she added.

“It’s an interesting demonstration of the ways in which apps and social media platforms both reflect and are sensitive to cultural change and serve as a cultural barometer but can also codify what is acceptable behavior,” said Sarah Roberts, assistant professor of information studies at the University of California.

Whitney Wolfe Herd also plans to prevent users from mentioning guns in writing, The New York Times reports.

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