Grindr has blocked users from using the phrase No Zionists on the popular dating and hook-up app, a seemingly tacit endorsement of the Trump administrations crackdown on all forms of protest over Israels response in Gaza to the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas militants.The platform continues to allow any number of other phrases that exclude state political, religious, and ethnic preferences, according to a report by 404 Media. A test on a new account revealed users can upload any number of other exclusionary phrases, including no Arabs, no Blacks, no Palestinians, no Muslims, no Christians, no Jews, no trans, no Republicans, no Democrats, and others. No zionist, no zionists were the only phrases blocked in testing. Related Grindr faces massive fine for allegedly sharing sensitive user data One advocate called the fines a very important victory in the fight to ensure consumers safety online. Zionism refers to the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Critics of Israels recent attacks on Palestinian civilians have increasingly used the term to refer to supporters of Israel who use the goal of a Jewish homeland to justify Israels actions. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Tests on the platform and user reports indicate that users who try to include the phrase No Zionists in their bio receive an error message that reads, The following are not allowed: no zionist, no zionists. The message has been in use at least since at May 2024. Grindr has blocked the phrase No Zionists pic.twitter.com/b4wHs4xLuE Leo Herrera (@herreraimages) May 21, 2024While the No Zionists prohibition is not mentioned in Grindrs terms of service, they do state that users may NOT post, store, send, transmit, or disseminate any information or material which a reasonable person could deem to be objectionable, defamatory, libelous, offensive, obscene, indecent, pornographic, harassing, threatening, embarrassing, distressing, vulgar, hateful, racially or ethnically or otherwise offensive to any group or individual, intentionally misleading, false, or otherwise inappropriate, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful.In 2020, Grindr removed its ethnicity filter, which allowed users to filter from view individuals with a race or ethnicity they didnt want to see or associate with.Grindr wrote at the time: We will continue to fight racism on Grindr, both through dialogue with our community and a zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech on our platform. As part of this commitment, and based on your feedback, we have decided to remove the ethnicity filter from our next release.Grindr founder Joel Simkhai is Israeli. He left the company in 2018 after it was sold to a Chinese gaming company.Republicans have been in lockstep with the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu in his prosecution of the war in Gaza, while massive protests against Israels conduct in the war exploded on college campuses last year. The Trump administration has labelled any form of dissent voiced by critics of the Israeli government antisemitism and used the charge as an excuse to revoke federal funding for universities and other institutions and compel them to shed policies at odds with the administrations far-right agenda, including DEI initiatives and LGBTQ+ inclusion.In September 2024, The Forward reported that pro-Israel Jews complained that they faced hostility on dating apps for displaying Israeli flag emojis or identifying as Zionist.One Grindr user who saw the No Zionists error message, identified only as Green, was explicit in his condemnation of both the hook-up apps selective censorship and Israels continuing siege on Gaza.It seems pretty explicitly pro-colonization and protecting of the ideology that genocide and ethnic cleansing are okay for certain groups to perform as long as it upholds your own personal or capitalistic interests, he said. Its gross. And to put energy towards protecting a blatantly bigoted ideology and not put the same energy towards protecting minority groups is pathetic. So fuck Grindr and its inability to intersect queer oppression with the oppression of other groups.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.