Tinder said that children were able to use the app to make friends and connect with new people, before it chose to block them altogether. Tinder had been allowing any user over the age of 13 to access the app, but had limited “matches” to only users in the same age group.
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‘Consistent with this responsibility, we have made a decision to discontinue service for under 18 users.
The change will take effect next week..
Earlier, the website had allowed teenagers from 13-17 years of age to use their services. “It was deeply worrying that a dating app allowed children below the age of consent to use their site, which put them at risk of being contacted by much older users”. The app doesn’t verify users’ birthdays, taking it from Facebook when they sign up – so with a fake Facebook account, a 48-year-old could pass themselves off as a 14-year-old.
“For a long time we haven’t done enough to give them a good experience”, said Tinder CEO Sean Rad in a statement. “Tinder has become one of the largest social platforms in the world, responsible for 10 billion connections in just the last few years, and therefore we are not immune to this, despite the fact that it represents a miniscule percentage of our experiences”.
Tinder says it believes this is the “right thing to do” to protect under-18s.
Tinder said the change would affect less than 3% of its user base.
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The new update comes in the wake of the company’s recent announcement of a new transgender-friendly user experience, which is set to roll-out in the coming months, as previously reported. Tinder’s massive and growing user base requires even tighter specification and enforcement of policy to keep the dating app safe for its users.
