Bumble brings back ‘Stand For Safety’ initiative in India

Bumble, the women-first social networking app, returns with ‘Stand for Safety’, after a successful launch of its first edition last year. The campaign is a part of the app’s continued global effort to help to create a safer, kinder and more respectful internet.

In response to growing digital safety concerns in India, this year, Bumble is partnering with the Centre for Social Research (CSR), a non-profit organisation dedicated to creating a violence-free, gender-just society in India, to release a one-of-a-kind safety handbook to help drive awareness around digital safety and empower its community to recognise and combat online hate, bullying and discrimination.

The handbook, created in association with Nyaaya, an independent open access digital resource, provides simple, actionable information to educate people about their legal rights and ways to exercise them when faced with online hate and discrimination.

We are delighted to partner with the Centre for Social Research and Nyaaya to create this one-of-a-kind safety handbook to support our community and equip them with crucial information to recognise and combat online abuse, discrimination and harassment. Bumble is built on the core values of kindness, respect, inclusivity and equality, and safety has been central to Bumble’s mission from day one. Our ‘Stand for Safety’ initiative further demonstrates our deeper commitment to creating a world where all relationships are healthy and equitable.” commented Mahima Kaul, Head of Public Policy APAC at Bumble.

Bumble’s recent nationwide study revealed how online harassment is affecting people across the country. Some of the most notable findings include:

• 1 in 2 (50%) people have encountered hateful content online* and 1 in 4 women have witnessed negative comments about their physical appearance and abuse against women at least once a week.
• 40% of people surveyed say that they have faced online hate-driven speech and bullying with regards to discrimination against a particular group or community and their physical appearance.
• More than half (52%) of people surveyed said they have felt angry after facing online hate and bullying.
• 48% of people say that facing online hate and bullying has made it hard for them to trust other people. Out of this, more than half respondents surveyed were women.

Jyoti Vadehra, Head, Media and Communications at Centre for Social Research, commented, “Equal, equitable and inclusive online spaces can become a reality when we all work together. We are happy to have partnered with Bumble in India in their efforts to make the Internet a safer and kinder space especially for women and other marginalised communities. Creation of Bumble’s Safety Handbook is a vital step in the right direction, and the purpose is to give agency to the users, and to empower them with the right tools to fortify their well-being, while navigating the online space.”

Considering India’s sociocultural and multi-linguistic diversities, Bumble will be working towards updating its guidelines by adding more stop words in multiple Indian regional languages in continuation of its commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive space online.

Bumble also offers a full suite of product features with a focus on safety. The app provides the option for users to block and report any person who goes against our Community Guidelines. People can easily access the Safety + Wellbeing Centre resource hub within the app built to help our community have a safe and healthy dating experience. As a geographic-specific feature for the Bumble community in India, a woman can choose to use only the first initial of her name to create her Bumble Date profile, and can share her full name with connections when she feels ready and comfortable.

In 2019, the company introduced Private Detector, a feature that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically detect and blur unsolicited nude images. The feature then alerts the recipient who can choose to view, delete, or report the image.

Bumble also updated its terms and conditions to explicitly ban any unsolicited and derogatory comments made about someone’s appearance, body shape, size or health, and became one of the first social networking apps to ban body shaming.