In 2020, Grindr removed ethnicity filters as part of its public commitment to fighting racism. Now, Grindr uses an algorithm to predict which profiles users might find attractive, places those recommendations behind another paywall, and charges existing paying subscribers even more to interact with them through “For You.”

My recommendations appear to consist almost exclusively of white men over 50. Apparently, Grindr has decided who my type is, without giving me any transparency or control over how those conclusions were reached.

This raises some uncomfortable questions:

1. Does Grindr’s recommendation algorithm infer racial preferences from users’ behavior, either directly or through demographic proxies?
2. If so, how is algorithmically identifying and acting on racial preferences consistent with Grindr’s stated justification for eliminating ethnicity filters?
3. Why is Grindr charging existing paying subscribers an additional $27.99 per week to interact with profiles selected using its own recommendation system?

Grindr publicly discouraged ethnicity-based selection by its users. If the company is now reproducing those preferences algorithmically and monetizing the results, that would represent a remarkable double standard.

Is Grindr genuinely committed to combating racial discrimination, or has it simply replaced user-controlled preferences with opaque, potentially race-influenced algorithms that generate additional subscription revenue?

I believe Grindr owes its customers a transparent explanation.