After Complaints, Grindr Will Finally Remove its 'Ethnicity Filter'

The gay dating and hookup app Grindr took to social media this week to announce it is removing its "ethnicity filter" from the next version app after it drew criticism from its users, the BBC reports.

The filter allows users to filter others based on race.

Taking to Twitter, Grindr wrote: "We will not be silent. Black Lives Matter," and added an image of a statement in which the company said its supports the #BlackLivesMatter moment and "the hundreds of thousands of queer people of color who log in to our app every day."

After encouraging people to donate to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and Black Lives Matter, Grindr adds that it will "continue to hit racism... both through dialogue with our community and a zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech on our platform."

"As a part of this commitment, and based on your feedback, we have decided to remove the ethnicity filter from our next release," the statement concludes.

The Verge's Ashley Carman writes that the enthalpy filter has been "controversial for years, but they went unchanged even as Grindr launched an anti-racism campaign on the platform in 2018."

"That same year, Landen Zumwalt, Grindr's former head of communications, told The Guardian that the company discussed removing the ethnicity filters but wasn't ready to get rid of them," Carman adds. "The team wanted to talk to its users first, he said, and the filters gave people in minority groups a chance to match more easily with one another."

In March it was reported that the Chinese tech company that owned Grindr sold the company to San Vicente Acquisition LLC, which be bought a 98.59% stake in the app. Read more about that by clicking here.

A number of Twitter users reacted to Grindr's latest announcement. Find some of the responses below.