Matrimonial Website Shaadi.com Removes Skin Tone Filter Following Backlash
Jun. 24, 2020Popular Indian matrimonial website shaadi.com has reportedlyremoved its skin tone filter following criticism on online platforms. The development comes at a time when widespread movements such as Black Lives Matter against racism are in full force.
As reported by BBC, the company took this decision after Hetal Lakhani, a US resident started a petition on Change.org. In fact,thepetitiongained 1,622 signaturesat the time of writing this article.
“We demand that Shaadi.com must permanently remove its skin colour filter to prevent users from selectively searching for matches based on their preferred skin colour,”Lakhani added.
Also, Hetal Lakhani seems to have started the petition after seeing the Facebook post of Meghan Nagpal, a Shaadi.com user who was looking for her potential life spouse on the website. She was apparently discussing how the filter signified the lack of inclusion.
“I emailed them (shaadi.com) and one representative said this is a filter required by most parents,”Nagpal told BBC.“It’s just one small step in an ultimate goal of promoting equality within the south Asian community on a global level.”
Upon removing the filter, Shaadi.com said the filter “was not serving any purpose”. According to the firm, the filter was a “product debris”, which directly contradicts what the representative told Nagpal.
Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.
