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Grindr removes 'ethnicity filter' after complaints

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Grindr

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Grindr was launched in 2009

Dating and hook-up app Grindr says it will remove the “ethnicity filter” from the next version of its app, following years of criticism from its users.

The app currently lets people filter potential matches according to their age, height, weight and ethnicity.

But critics say the ethnicity filter fuels discrimination and that the app does too little to tackle racism.

Announcing the change, Grindr said it had a “zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech” on its platform.

On 29 May, the company had tweeted “Demand justice. #BlackLivesMatter”, with a link to further information. This had prompted several users to accuse the company of hypocrisy.

One message saying “remove the ethnicity filter” was retweeted 1,000 times.

Grindr later deleted its own tweet and on 1 June posted a new message explaining its change of position.

Several companies have posted messages of their own featuring the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter following six consecutive days of protests across the United States. The events were sparked by the killing of George Floyd – a black man who died after a white officer continued kneeling on is neck even after he had pleaded that he could not breathe.

While some Grindr users welcomed the removal of the filter, others said the company had taken too long to implement the change, and had done the “bare minimum”.

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