Toxicity and hate speech spread on the internet, whether it’s on Twitter (TWTR), Facebook (FB), Youtube (GOOG, GOOGL), Snapchat (SNAP) – or even on dating sites.
The Women’s Center Dating Site (BMBL), which became known on Thursday, explicitly banned unsolicited and derogatory comments about someone’s appearance, body shape, size or health.
“We are not afraid to take a stand for what we believe is in line with our values and our mission. Historically, we have banned guns from our platform, and just two weeks ago we banned any form of bodily shame. It is not going to be on our platform is not patient, ”Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble, told Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday.
Although Bumble has a zero-tolerance policy on hate and toxicity, the company has also taken several public views on what it considers harmful. “This includes language that can be considered fat-phobic, capable, racist, coloristic, homophobic or transphobic,” Bumble said in a January 27 announcement, saying such behavior could lead to a warning or ban for repeated offenses. or especially damaging comments. .
Herd spoke to Yahoo Finance on Thursday, saying Bumble gives priority to holding users accountable for their behavior. “In the real world, there are lies, laws, consequences for your behavior. We are not trying, you know, to censor people, but we are trying to tell you that if you want to act badly, you can not do it here,” Herd said. said, who was previously co-founder of the dating site Tinder.
‘We look at the woman’s life cycle’
Founded by Herd in 2014, Bumble now reaches 42 million active users in 150 countries. Bumble’s most important distinction is that women need to take the first step in heterosexual matches.
Bumble currently hosts Bizz and BFF, which are meant for users to meet their next business partner or best friend. Herd’s vision to expand Bumble both vertically and horizontally reflects her ambitions to grow up with women who may have first joined the app to find a boyfriend or girlfriend.
“We look at the life cycle of the woman or the person’s relationship journey. When you think about all the different points of contact you have in your life, which are really derived from your relationships, whether it’s the search for love, or once you find love, how to start the next chapter – engagement, marriage, fertility, everything that goes along with those journeys, ‘she told Yahoo Finance.
Herd has a personal mission to empower women and curb bad behavior, especially online. She sued her former employer, Tinder, for sexual harassment and eventually settled with an unknown amount.
And Herd, whose company is based in Austin, Texas, supported a Texas law banning “cyber-streaming” or sending unsolicited lewd photos. House Bill 2789 came into effect on September 1, 2019, making the electronic transmission of sexually explicit material a Class C offense with a fine of up to $ 500 if the person who received it did not give permission. Herd said she wants to work with Congress to introduce similar legislation at the federal level.
Shares of Bumble closed 76% higher than the IPO price in the first two days as an exchange-traded company.
Melody Hahm is Yahoo Finance’s correspondent on the West Coast, which deals with entrepreneurship, technology and culture. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm and on LinkedIn.
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