Online dating service OkCupid has banned a prominent white supremacist “for life” after discovering he was using the platform.
Chris Cantwell gained notoriety after appearing in a VICE News segment about last weekend’s deadly Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. During the segment, Cantwell used racist and anti-Semitic language, theorized that more violence would occur in the future, and showed a reporter multiple weapons strapped to his body.
OkCupid, which says it verified Cantwell’s identity before banning him, publicly announced its decision on Thursday. “We were alerted by another dater on OkCupid who had been contacted by Cantwell recently,” OkCupid told Mashable.
We were alerted that white supremacist Chris Cantwell was on OkCupid. Within 10 minutes we banned him for life.
— OkCupid (@okcupid) August 17, 2017
There is no room for hate in a place where you're looking for love.
— OkCupid (@okcupid) August 17, 2017
“We’ve been public about kicking Cantwell off of OkCupid because of our responsibility to be clear about the human values of our community – who we’re for and the kind of person to person interaction we stand for,” OkCupid CEO Elie Seidman told Mashable. “The formula for this one was easy: ‘Nazi or supremacist == bad.’”
If any OkCupid members come across people involved in hate groups, please report it immediately https://t.co/K6PTo8Rtlr
— OkCupid (@okcupid) August 17, 2017
Earlier in the week, Facebook banned Cantwell, along with a page promoting his podcast, from its service as well.