A number of men who use the popular dating app Grindr have begun reporting on mysterious bans from the platform.
Instinct reports that an increasing number of men have taken to social media to report getting banned from Grindr, seemingly for no reason. Though each does receive a message saying that the ban has gone into effect for violation of Grindr’s policies, the men in question also claim to have not committed any violations. Users have their IP addresses blocked, also preventing them from starting new accounts. The men’s identities were not published to protect user privacy.
Worse, the app users have not received any correspondence from the company despite requests for further information regarding the bans.
Related: Teen loses his virginity to a Grindr catfish and ends up fleeing in tears
We found similar threads on Reddit. Both started in February 2020, they also detail user frustrations of inexplicable blockings, even by the customer service department. It also appears that iPhone users tend to encounter the problem more often.
“There are lots of people got banned by Grindr for no reason, some are as simple as turning people down and then got reported,” writers user cucumberfcy. “Grindr won’t give you a specific reason why you got banned. I was keeping asking them why I got banned and they even blocked me on the customer service side lol.”
“Just got banned for no reason and they won’t reply to me anymore,” user Saltandpepper912 said.
Speculation for the reasons behind the ban has ranged from users sending nude pictures (which is historically permitted by Grindr) to sending cross-dressing photos to algorithms incorrectly flagging some accounts as spam.
Others have theorized that innocent use of certain emojis in a profile could trigger a ban, if said emojis could be perceived as alluding to prostitution or drug use.
“Maple leaf is a ban,” notes user Ravedog. “People use it for weed. A lot of emojis are being banned. 🌹 💎 etc. they all have drug and prostitution connotations. It wasn’t for no reason. Don’t use them. Don’t fight out of principal. People have ruined things and you paid the price.”
Without Grindr’s willingness to further address the issue, however, frustrated users can only postulate the reasons behind the bans.
The mysterious banning of users is just the latest bit of intrigue surrounding the popular app. Grindr recently resolved an ongoing legal drama regarding ownership of the app by a Chinese company; it was sold back to San Vicente Acquisition, a US-based company, earlier this year. Grindr has also been criticized in the past for reinforcing racial and body discrimination, sale of user data including HIV stats to third-party companies, and for not doing enough to ban spam and scams.
We reached out to Grindr for comment on this story. At the time of this writing, they have not responded to our requests.
Harley
Yea. I was on Grindr for like a week a few years back. I couldn’t delete that trash fast enough from my phone.
btedge
I still use the app. I can’t wait until it is bankrupt.
BTE
wooly101
The whole app should be band out of existence.
btedge
I completely agree. I use the app to track guys to follow and watch them, and I haven’t gotten banned in years until February 2021. The app is nothing but trash. I hope it goes bankrupt.
stevenredd
I find it one of the worst apps for this purpose anyway. No big loss, actually.
btedge
It most certainly is a horrible app. I hope the company goes belly up.
Kr8Tiv
I’m sure it’s frustrating for the guys that are finding their accounts banned without clear rationale. Having said that…there are plenty of other gay social apps and I’m not personally convinced being forced off Grindr is the worst thing in the world. It’s probably the most toxic of the apps out there in terms of the community it fosters and it never hurts to have to try something new or take an app break for a while and live life offline.
btedge
The app is highly toxic! Nothing but garbage that tends to go on it.
8millionandcounting
That’s one way to get out and away from that “grind”.
I have a good friend who’s on it a lot of the day which he freely admits because he wants a BF. He’s perpetually late and miserable. It’s starting to get on my nerves.
I tired it and it took me all of a week to realize I already knew I didn’t need it. Thankfully, I’m skilled at flirting and picking up trade at the gym, running or biking in the park(s) especially since going out is off the table right now. So much easier.
Prax07
Grindr’s just bad now. Full of bots, lots of trans and guys looking for trans or m/f couples only. Wish they’d come out with something specifically for gay men only.
Saki
now you sound like str8s do when they are bitching about us gays. if they are bothering you so much then just filter them out of your grid its a free option on this app
BaltoSteve
Considering the toxic nature fostered by the app in the past, I could imagine profile pictures, anything that looked like a political statement, or, as suggested by the article, emojis being the cause. I remember having the app, and the number of profile pics that violated not only the TOS of Grindr but the TOS of Apple were pretty prolific.
mailliw110
I stopped using Grindr when I stopped partying three years ago.