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Twitter Users Start #ShutdownSmoochr In Reaction To Black Dating Site’s Discriminatory Filters

#ShutdownSmoochr

Twitter users have called for a black dating site to be shut down for promoting colourism and discrimination.

Smoochr is a new US-based dating service that seeks to help connect black singles “by complexion, hair style, moral views and more”.

And a campaign to shut down the site using the hashtag #ShutdownSmoochr has been started after people got wind of the dating site’s matching and filtering system.

When users log into the site, they are first asked to fill in some personal information, as with most other dating sites, however Smoochr asks for details that have been criticised for promoting discrimination.

Smoochr asks singles to input details about their skin colour, hair type, lip shape and body type.

For complexion, users are asked to choose between options like “mocha”, “caramel”, “vanilla, “pecan”, “almond”, “chocolate” and “latte”.

In the section about lip type, Smoochr has a drop down menu that includes “thin”, “full”, “soup coolers”, or “duck lips”.

#ShutdownSmoochr

And after seeing the way the site was filtering singles, Elen Awalom, a tech developer & activist from Washington D.C., decided to start the Twitter campaign #ShutdownSmoochr.

And the campaign has now been joined by hordes of social media users, who have voiced their concerns about the online dating site.

In addition to its controversial filtering system, Smoochr has also been charged with being homophobic, for not offering an LGBTQ service – instead only asking singles if they are a “woman seeking a man” or a “man seeking a woman.”

So far, it has not been made public who created the dating site, and attempts to contact the site’s founders have been unsuccessful.

See some more tweets about #ShutdownSmoochr here.

Emma Woodley

Emma is a reporter at Global Dating Insights. Originally from Surrey, she has studied Communication and Media at Bournemouth University and The University of Central Florida. She enjoys socialising with friends, exploring new places and can often be found with her nose in a book.

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