Goose App Faces Scrutiny Over Moderation Failures and Data Rights
Users report fake profiles, uneven enforcement of community guidelines, and a lack of racial diversity on the gay men’s social platform, while founders deny exclusionary practices.
A WIRED investigation into Goose, a social application for gay men marketed as an anti-hookup platform, has uncovered significant user complaints regarding inconsistent moderation, a lack of racial diversity, and the presence of fake profiles. The app, which positions itself as an alternative to transactional dating services, has drawn criticism for a verification system that fails to prevent catfishing and community guidelines that appear to be applied unevenly.
Users have reported that the app’s moderation framework is inconsistent, with some accounts banned for attire while others remain active. Erick Hall, a New York City-based OnlyFans creator with over 800,000 followers on X, was banned from Goose after uploading photos that included his abs, despite not identifying as an adult performer on his profile. Hall cited an inconsistent verification process and deleted the app, stating he was disappointed by the lack of clear reasoning for the rejection.
Racial diversity has also emerged as a point of contention. Raffy Regulus, a 35-year-old nonbinary community health liaison in New York City, reported a lack of racial diversity in the Bronx, stating he mostly encountered cis white men and deleted the app after one week. Regulus noted that filtering the app’s map feature yielded scarce results for Black and Latinx users in the area, describing the profiles he did encounter as generic or potentially AI-generated.
Goose cofounder Derek Chadwick denied that the company makes decisions based on identity, gender expression, or personal presentation, and stated that the app was built without exclusionary mechanics such as ethnicity filters. However, the company faced significant backlash over its original terms of service, which granted perpetual rights to user images. Following this backlash, Goose updated its terms on June 30 to limit its scope over user rights, though the company confirmed it uses member content to train safety and anti-spam models.
Verification flaws were highlighted by a user identified as @whatsthattwunk, who discovered that shirtless photos of him had been uploaded to a fake Goose profile under the name Robert, a 33-year-old attorney in Nashville. The user questioned whether the app truly cared about verifying real users or was gathering biometric data for AI usage. Chadwick declined to confirm the specific verification technology used, citing security concerns, but stated that the moderation team is aggressively managing the creation of fake profiles.
Despite the controversies, the app reports that members have initiated over 250,000 conversations since launch. The company declined to share specific user numbers. While some users like Hunter Lawrence, a 31-year-old hairstylist from Austin, Texas, appreciate the platform’s focus on friendship, others remain critical of the gap between its marketing as an anti-hookup space and the reality of its features and user experience.
