Bumble temporarily suspended after people criticised it for identifying US capitol rioters

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Web Desk
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January 17, 2021

We've temporarily removed our politics filter to prevent misuse, said Bumble on its Twitter account

Supporters of President Donald Trumpparticipate in a "Stop the Steal" protest outside the US capitol. Photo: Reuters/File


The dating app has Bumble temporarily suspended its political filter amid accusations that the users on the app tried to get a hold ofconservatives who took part in last week's Capitol insurrection and turn them to law enforcement agencies.

"We've temporarily removed our politics filter to prevent misuse. However, please rest assured that we prohibit any content that promotes terrorism or racial hatred, and we've already removed any users that have been confirmed as participants in the attack of the US Capitol," said the widely-used dating app on Twitter.

Since the attack on the Capitol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been asking the public for "tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence" in and around the complex on January 6. As of Wednesday, over 100 people had been arrested, read a news report published in Business Insider.

The development comes a day after the pro-Trump riot, Alia Awadallah, a woman in Washington, DC, tweeted: "There are DOZENS of men on DC dating apps right now who were clearly here for the insurrection attempt."

Responding to Awadallah, another Twitterati Allison Norris said that she knew of someone who had changed her Bumble profile to conservative to find Republicans who took part in the storming of the Capitol.

Read more: Inauguration Day: FBI warns of 'armed protests' planned at all 50 state capitols

"She's matching with the MAGA bros and they're bragging and sending her pics and videos of them in the Capitol. She's sending them to the FBI," Norris said.

Norris's tweet was liked more than 27,000 times as of Friday morning, with John Sipher, a former CIA spy, commenting: "Well played."

Another person responded: "Get in girls. We're going hunting," the publication highlighted.

When reached for comment on Friday, Bumble issued a statement to Insider, explaining that in the days after the attack on the Capitol, they noticed an "uptick in users using the politics filter in a manner contrary to our terms and conditions.



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