- Jack'd, a queer dating app, came under fire on Monday for a notification that read "All Waves Matter."
- This follows their removal of ethnicity search filters on their app in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
- The app later apologized and said, "That statement is not, nor has it ever been our stance on the matter."
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Queer dating app Jack'd came under fire on Monday night after the app sent users a notification reading "All Waves Matter," referencing the virtual "waves" users send to express interest in another user.
Being an app that prides itself on being the "most diverse community for gay, bi, trans, and queer people," as their website says, the notification's sentiment didn't sit right with many of its users.
While Jack'd is overwhelmingly used by people of color, Out reported, the notification seemingly alluded to "All Lives Matter," the rallying cry used by those who do not agree with the Black Lives Matter movement.
One person tweeted out a screenshot of the notification and wrote, "Honey, what is THIS?" and another person tweeted out a similar screenshot and wrote, "Y'all please delete this trash of an app for posting this,"
The app later apologized for the message. "Hey everyone, we saw the notification too…and we're working on getting to the bottom of how this happened. In the meantime, we are sincerely sorry," the company said in a tweet on Monday night. "That statement is not, nor has it ever been our stance on the matter."
-Jack’d (@jackd) March 9, 2021
Many Jack'd users posted screenshots of the notification on Twitter and expressed their distaste for the statement. "Brands need to stop trying to be so f----g cute when it comes to social issues," Jack'd user Kodi Seaton said in a tweet from his account @Grindrwhileblk. "Period."
Seaton, who lives in Washington, DC, told Insider in a Twitter message that when he tweeted his "valid criticism," the Jack'd Twitter account blocked him. "Meanwhile, they use Black bodies to sell and promote their product. You can't just value Black bodies. You also have to value our voices." Seaton also tweeted on his @Grindrwhileblk account, a promotional photo uploaded by Jack'd on Instagram, which featured two Black models.
The controversy comes as the gay community grapples with issues of racism that have frequently played out on dating apps.
Similar to Grindr, considered the most popular dating app for gay men, Jack'd is geolocation-based and users can scroll through a grid of over 100 nearby users. To help users find what they're looking for, dating apps like Grindr, Scruff, and Jack'd each have filters for age, height, relationship status, and weight.
Some of the apps previously had filters for ethnicity. But in June 2020, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, Jack'd and Scruff - both owned by Perry Street Software - announced they would remove their ethnicity filters, meaning users could no longer search for dates based on ethnicity. Scruff said in a statement on Twiter at the time that they were committed to making "product improvements that address racism and unconscious bias on our apps."
Insider reached out to Jack'd for comment but did not immediately hear back.