Tinder is no longer available to users under the age of 18.
The company previously allowed members between the ages of 13 and 17 to access and use the dating service, only able to connect with other under-18s, but as of next week this will no longer be the case.
In a statement, Tinder’s VP of communications Rosette Pambakian said:
“On a platform that has facilitated over 11 billion connections, we have the responsibility of constantly assessing our different user experiences.
“Consistent with this responsibility, we have decided to discontinue service for under 18 users.”
By doing this, Tinder says it is losing over 3% of its global user base, but thinks the decision is “the right thing to do”.
It’s a strong move from Tinder, considering under-18 usage of the app has often been flagged as a worrying area of safety for the dating brand.
Back in 2014 both the National Crime Agency and the NSPCC issued warnings about the growing trend, having received a huge increase in complaints about online grooming on such dating apps.
At the time, Tinder’s former CMO Justin Mateen said around 7% of the app’s users were under-18.
The dating app has been thinking about changing its policy with regards to underage users since last year, and the changes will come into effect next week.