Bumble Cracks Down on Ghosting and Doxing

Dating app Bumble has updated its community guidelines to crack down on bad behaviors like ghosting and doxing, as well as to cut down on bots.

Bumble is coming down hard on the issue of bots by banning actions like “artificially influencing connections, matching, conversations, or engagement through the use of automation or scripting,” according to Tech Crunch. The app has blocked more than 8.2 million fake and spam accounts this year using AI. The problem of bots is an ongoing one for all dating apps, and using AI as a tool to identify and block these accounts benefits users in the long run.

In its guidelines, Bumble added clauses prohibiting adult content on its apps, including language in profiles and attempts to “buy, sell, or promote sexual content” according to Tech Crunch.

The company is also targeting ghosting behavior on its app. The new Bumble community guidelines say it will now mark a “no-show” on dates under “bullying and abusive conduct” if a user reports that a match never showed up for a scheduled date. This is a big step for a dating app, when most singles see this behavior as part of the dating process.

Bumble’s community guidelines once acknowledged ghosting as a fact of dating: “We fully get that ghosting can be disappointing or frustrating, but sometimes it happens,” the app’s community guidelines page once read. “If someone suddenly stops messaging you, see it as their loss and an opportunity to find someone better for you.”

But now, that language has been updated to read that it will “discourage no-show behavior through disallowing the act of not turning up to an in-person meet up despite clear plans agreed by both parties.”

Doxing, which is where a user publicly posts the address, phone number, or other personal information of another user, will also fall under the “bullying and abusive conduct policies” as rule-breaking offensives. Victim-blaming likewise will also not be tolerated.

Bumble has not updated its reporting features and options to reflect the new rules according to Tech Crunch, but that may be something the company is planning down the line. For now, a user can file a report and a human moderator will verify the details and decide on the next steps and any actions they will be taking.

And the company also hasn’t outlined the consequences of users who violate some of these rules IRL and not just on the platform, which Tech Crunch points out might present more challenges.

The new rules will apply to all Bumble properties, including Bumble, the new Bumble for Friends platform, and Badoo.