Bumble dating app banning images of guns from user photos
LOS ANGELES -- The dating mobile app Bumble announced it is banning photos of guns from user photos on its platform.
The move comes amid renewed attention on gun control following the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that claimed 17 lives.
Bumble said it also plans to donate $100,000 to March for Our Lives, the planned March 24 demonstration for gun control launched by Parkland students.
In addition to banning the photos, the company has asked its users to report anyone with a gun in their profile photo.
"What's the purpose of that? Is it to show power? To show strength? To show macho-ness? It's absurd," high school counselor Donna Finkelstein said.
She supports the move. Almost 20 years ago, her daughter was one of five people shot by a white supremacist at a local Jewish community center.
"Soon after I knew my daughter survived her shooting, I used it every single day in my conversations with the kids and just went out there to talk to whomever I could about it," she said.
Finkelstein went on to say that the ban is a stand that needs to be taken and "there's no place on the internet for someone's picture holding a gun."
The app said it would make exceptions for members of the military or law enforcement who are in uniform.
"We were founded with safety, respect and kindness in mind," the company said in a statement on Instagram. "As mass shootings continue to devastate communities across the country, it's time to state unequivocally that gun violence is not in line with our values, nor do these weapons belong on Bumble."
