2d ago

Rape under wraps: how Tinder, Hinge and their corporate owner chose profits over safety

www.theguardian.com Rape under wraps: how Tinder, Hinge and their corporate owner chose profits over safety

Match Group has known for years about abusive users on its dozen dating apps, but leaves millions of people in the dark

Hinge is one of more than a dozen dating apps owned by Match Group. The $8.5bn global conglomerate also owns brands like Tinder (the world’s most popular dating app), OKCupid and Plenty of Fish. Match Group controls half of the world’s online dating market, operates in 190 countries and facilitates meetups for millions of people.

Match Group’s official safety policy states that when a user is reported for assault, “all accounts found that are associated with that user will be banned from our platforms”.

So why, on the night of 25 January 2023, was Stephen Matthews still on the app? Just four days before, Match Group had been alerted when another woman reported him for rape. A little more than a week later, he was reported for rape again. This time, the survivor went to the police.

None of these women knew that the company had known about his violent behavior for years. He was first reported on 28 September 2020. By then, Match Group’s safety policy was already in place.

AMUSING, INTERESTING, OUTRAGEOUS, or PROFOUND @lemmy.world

Doug Holland @lemmy.world

1d ago

Match Group, the $8.5-billion global conglomerate that owns Tinder and OKCupid ignores its own policies on removing rapists from dating apps

www.theguardian.com /us-news/2025/feb/13/tinder-hinge-match-investigation

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6 comments

You literally cannot win anymore. Let's destroy public spaces, make everyone a shut-in, and make this shit the only way to meet new people.
- I understand the sentiment, but your conclusion only reinforces Match Group's position. It overstates some real phenomena and makes people feel resigned to use their miserable services.
  Public spaces have been increasingly reduced but there are still community centers, libraries, parks, walking paths, and so on to simply be in.
  Those same spaces also tend to hold events for people to go out to that don't cost anything to attend. At the same time, there are also some private venues that allow others to make use of their space for events and meetings without charging anything, and buying things being a courtesy but not obligatory.
  With those offline events, you then have opportunities to meet people besides some bad apps. However even online you have plenty of opportunities to make connections with others outside of matchmaking apps that may lead to more. Neither way is as straightforward, but given the state of dating apps, it's better than acting like they aren't real options.
  
  Aye, but my issue is transportation. Buses here in my city are suboptimal, and infrastructure is hostile towards pedestrians. I can't afford a car, so getting around is just more difficult. I use dating apps.. for now. Not forever. If I don't find a proper match within a year, it's over. I think that's fair, given my position. I'll collect the karma later.
  If only I were in Europe.

Better sources to read this investigation:
The Markup.
The 19th.
No paywall and non-profit websites.
- Yes it is a for-profit news source but all profits are reinvested in the company, not doled out to investors.
  The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian

🤔 Wondering if Matthews was "special" in some way... Or if it's just a failure of Match Group which is indicative there may be many more rapists remaining on the apps in question.
Betting/Leaning towards the second option...

6 comments