10 Things That Will Get You Kicked Off Bumble in 2023

If you’ve been on the online dating scene in the past few years, you’ve probably encountered an array of strange and sadly degrading behaviour, with the most common being ghosting. 

It comes in all forms — when your match stops responding to messages on the app, cuts off all contact via phone and text after a few dates or, the worst of them all, doesn’t even show up to a planned date. 

It’s a real stab to the heart that no one deserves, which is exactly why Bumble has decided to take a stance against this rude behaviour and ban ghosters. 

In an industry-first move, the platform has updated its Community Guidelines to allow its millions of users to report each other for ghosting on an in-person date. 

According to a Bumble Inc. (the parent company of Bumble, Bumble for Friends, Badoo, Fruitz and Official) press release, the women-first app will “discourage no-show behaviour through disallowing the act of not turning up to an in-person meet up despite clear plans agreed by both parties.” 

Stood-up singletons can report an account to Bumble for ghosting, where a member of the support team will review it and decide if that person needs a warning or a ban. The app won’t tell the ghoster who reported them — they’ll simply receive a notification in the app and via email. 

“We have built our product around the core values of kindness and respect,” Bumble’s APAC Communications Director Lucille McCart, told Lifehacker. “So no matter what you are looking for, you must lead with kindness on Bumble and treat people with respect.”

And working on ghosting is a “non-negotiable” of this mission. 

“In practice, an example of that would be letting your match down politely and gently if you have decided you aren’t interested in getting to know them romantically, rather than ghosting them,” McCart noted.

Failure to comply with the new guideline isn’t the only act that can get you kicked off the app, either. This year alone, Bumble Inc. has blocked over 8.2 million accounts across Bumble and Badoo, most of which were automatically dissolved by automated safeguards like image filters and comments. 

“For us, it is really important that Bumble remains a safe, positive and empowering place for our community to make connections,” McCart added. 

“We want people to be able to use our apps to develop healthy and equal relationships, both romantic and platonic, casual or serious. We can’t achieve this without prioritising safety and wellbeing, and that includes removing people from the platform who violate our community guidelines.”

So, here are the top 10 acts that’ll get someone kicked off Bumble in 2023. 

10 things that will get you kicked off Bumble in 2023

Identity-based hate

Any content or behaviour that promotes hatred or contempt towards marginalised or underrepresented groups is unaccepted. 

“This includes but is not limited to inciting or praising violence, advocating hate groups, expressing contempt (such as supporting harmful stereotypes, mocking physical features, intentional misgendering or deadnaming, and more), using identity-based slurs, spreading hateful misinformation, intentionally making false reports to Bumble, or harmfully stating connection preferences,” McCart explained. 

Fake profiles

In an attempt to say goodbye to catfishing and scamming, Bumble is cracking down on fake profiles.

“Our new guidelines have further reinforced our commitment to authenticity, as we now also prohibit any attempts to artificially influence connections, matching, conversations, or engagement through the use of automation or scripting.”

Victim shaming/blaming

Bumble is currently the only relationship platform to have a policy dedicated to this. 

“We do not allow users to blame, shame, or target someone based on their status as a victim-survivor of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, or domestic abuse. We also prohibit sharing any disrespectful content toward victims, survivors, or families impacted by suicide, self-injury, or eating disorders.”

Adult content

“We don’t permit nude, sexually explicit or sexually vulgar profile content. This includes the latest introduction on a blanket ban on the promotion of adult content in profiles, including attempts to sell, advertise or buy adult sexual content,” she shared.

If you’re keen to consensually share intimate images with someone, you’ll have to move off-app.

Bullying and harassment

Bumble has always advocated against harassment, bullying and targeting — and now the updated guidelines have expanded this to include ‘doxxing’. 

“This refers to the malicious sharing of private identifying information such as photos and private contact information without consent.”

No shows

AKA ghosting after arranging an in-person meet up. 

“This refers to situations where both people have agreed to a meet up and one does not show up, without any warning or contact.”

Ghosting in the sense of someone failing to respond to messages is still uncool behaviour, but not something that will get a user kicked off the app.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment relates to non-physical, unwanted and unwelcome sexual behaviours between members. 

“This includes online and in-person indecent exposure, sharing or threatening to share sexual or intimate images without consent, sending unwanted sexual comments or images and fetishisation.”

Sexual assault

“We’re also proud to have an industry-leading and comprehensive definition of sexual assault, which we define as any unwanted physical contact or attempted physical contact that is sexual in nature. This encompasses behaviours such as unwanted removal of another’s clothes, stealthing, non-consensual sexual penetration as well as any threats to commit sexual assault.”

Body shaming

Not only does this include harmful unsolicited comments about someone’s body or appearance, but it also entails content that depicts, promotes, glorifies or assists in activities that could lead to disordered eating or body image. 

Commercial or promotional activity

Bumble wasn’t created to sell products or promote businesses. Remember, it’s a safe platform for finding relationships, whether that be platonic or romantic, casual or serious. 

It’s worth noting that, as has been reported by Engadget, once the behaviour has been reported, a human moderator will take over the case and fact-check information before any action is taken. Either way, it’s worth keeping in mind if you’re someone who tends to bail on dates from time to time.

You can access Bumble’s updated Community Guidelines here.

Lead Image Credit: Netflix