Key Takeaways

Yoel Roth, VP of Trust & Safety at Match Group, is taking his quest for safer online dating practices around the world. 

In May, Match Group hosted a trust and safety roundtable in Brazil where a range of professionals, from law enforcement to media, discussed how Match Group can keep its Brazilian users safe. 

Trust and safety have never resonated more with online daters than they do now. Dating app users no longer assume that online dating is safe. There are too many shadowy corners of the internet, and not enough flashlights, which is why Gen Z daters have made trust and safety a priority everywhere, not just in the U.S. 

By collaborating with other industries and law enforcement to spread awareness and spearhead safety campaigns, Match Group’s Trust & Safety team is telling users around the world that they’re listening to their concerns, and care enough to do something about them. 

A Tinder Survey in Brazil Revealed an Alarming Pattern

In fact, the Trust & Safety team went to Brazil because they learned a troubling statistic: Fewer than 30% of Brazilian Tinder users know where to find safety features on the app, according to an in-app survey. 

The same survey found that 56% of Brazilian women fear being physically harmed on a date, and 45% of men fear being scammed or kidnapped. 

These days, people in the U.S. expect, and often welcome, ID verification tools on dating apps. It’s not quite so simple in Brazil, where only 44% of men and 45% of women surveyed said they are open to using an identification safety tool. It’s easy to understand that some people may not even know where to find these safety features on Tinder. 

Tinder’s in-app survey revealed a clear and present danger among the young dating app users in Brazil. With a majority of female online daters fearing for their lives, spreading awareness of the safety tools and resources offered by dating apps has never been more important. 

Match Group and Tinder Partnered With the NGO Justiceiras 

At the roundtable in São Paulo, Roth explained how “local collaboration and education” are essential to keeping Match Group users safe. This is why Match Group collaborated with Brazilian NGO Justiceiras, which supports people who have survived gender-based violence.  

According to Justiceiras, a rash of feminicides have plagued Brazil since the pandemic. The dangers of online dating, compounded by a lack of safety education and resources, have no doubt contributed to violence. Justiceiras enlists the help of lawyers, psychologists, and social workers to protect women and spread awareness. 

“Technology needs to go hand in hand with protecting women,” Gabriela Manssur, founder of Justiceiras, told Tinder. “This partnership with Tinder is an important step towards empowering users with information, listening and support — and also towards involving the entire community in a culture of respect in relationships.”

When Match Group tries to help online daters globally, it must address each country’s unique challenges. No one is better equipped to appeal to certain demographics than the local organizations like Justiceiras that innately understand the demographic’s culture, history, and customs. 

With this in mind, Match Group’s Trust & Safety team and Justiceiras created a Dating Safety Guide and Hotline that appeals specifically to people who online date in Brazil. 

According to Roth, these materials go a long way to “providing Brazilian users with tools and tips on consent, harassment, scams, sexual well-being, and an overview of the more than 20 trust and safety features we offer on Tinder.” The guide also helps Tinder users keep track of different red and green flags they should look out for while online dating. 

“Given the relevance of Tinder as  the most popular dating app in the world, we recognize our responsibility to contribute to mitigating the risks that impact the dating journey,” Roth said in a statement for Tinder. “We are engaged in partnerships with experts and local authorities to strengthen this agenda, promoting a safer environment online and offline.”

He mentioned a few specific Tinder features that not only ensure one’s personal safety, but one’s privacy, as well, including Are You Sure?, Blocked Contacts, Share My Date, and Photo & ID Verification. 

Roth’s Quest to Provide Global Trust and Safety Continues 

Match Group’s roundtable in Brazil is part of its ongoing effort to make online dating safety an industrywide priority. DatingNews recently reported on Match Group’s partnership with Stop Scams UK, which highlighted how cross-industry collaboration can be an effective defense against scammers. 

As part of the anti-scam coalition Tech Against Scams, Match Group has also worked with the Global Anti-Scam Organization to spread awareness and share safety resources with online daters in vulnerable areas and populations.