by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors
Six women who were drugged and raped or sexually assaulted by the same Denver cardiologist filed a lawsuit against Match Group on Dec. 16, accusing the world’s largest dating app company of “accommodating rapists across its products” through “negligence” and a “defective” product.
The women, backed by four law firms, said that by allowing known abusers like Stephen Matthews to remain on its apps, Tinder and Hinge, even after they are reported for rape, the company fostered a breeding ground for “sexual predators.”
“Even when Match Group receives reports about rapists, they continue to welcome them, fail to warn users about the general and specific risks, and affirmatively recommend known predators to members,” the complaint said. “Rapists know each Match Group platform offers a catalog of available victims.”
Though Match Group claimed to a survivor who reported Matthews that they had “permanently banned” him, the suit contends, he remained active on Hinge — and was even promoted as a “Standout” match.
“Dating apps have a duty to protect their users from known dangers,” said Carrie Goldberg, one of the attorneys representing Matthews’ survivors. Goldberg, who is known for high-profile lawsuits against large companies, including Amazon and Meta, and high-profile abusers, like Harvey Weinstein, said “Stephen Matthews was a known danger,” calling dating apps “potentially the most dangerous product.”
The 54-page complaint, filed in Denver District Court, cites an 18-month investigation into Match Group by the Dating App Reporting Project, published in The Markup in February.
Match Group did not provide a comment before publication. In February, in a statement provided to the Dating App Reporting Project by company spokesperson Kayla Whaling, the company cast itself as an industry leader in deploying technology to promote safety, including “harassment-preventing AI tools, ID verification for profiles, and a portal that helps us better support and communicate with law enforcement investigating crimes. … Every person deserves safe and respectful experiences. We are committed to doing the work to make dating safer on our platforms and beyond.”
“We recognize our role in fostering safer communities and promoting authentic and respectful connections worldwide,” the February statement read. “We will always work to invest in and improve our systems, and search for ways to help our users stay safe, both online and when they connect in real life.”
Relying on the Dating App Reporting Project’s investigation, along with new details from a survivor’s attempts to warn the company of danger, the Denver lawsuit details the cardiologist’s yearslong sexual assault spree on Hinge. Even after being reported multiple times, Matthews was able to continue to match with and assault women — usually with the same pattern — disarming them methodically with a trip to the park with his dog, a brunch near his townhouse, or a game of Jenga.
The lawsuit calls Hinge’s product design “defective,” alleging a bad actor can easily unmatch with a victim before they report them. “Once unmatched, the reporting option disappears,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for the plaintiffs.
Alexa, then a 22-year-old woman, whose last name is being withheld to protect her privacy, met Matthews at his house, where he offered her a shot. Not long after, she said, she started stumbling. Matthews then pushed her into a bedroom and began kissing her, she said. That’s when Alexa said she blacked out.
After being contacted by the Denver District Attorney’s office, she was infuriated to learn that Matthews had been reported to Hinge three years before her attack.
“Hinge was liable for giving him a platform,” Alexa said. “They had all the power and the resources to prevent this from happening.”
Match says it is improving the safety of its apps. During its most recent earnings call in November, Match Group and Tinder CEO Spencer Rascoff said the company was “doubling down on trust and safety across our platforms” because “trust is core” to its “long term success.” He spoke of the safety tools being integrated into the company’s portfolio — like video verification technology, recommendation algorithms, and AI-assisted moderation tools.
Some of these tools, Rascoff admitted, are decreasing the apps’ monthly active users, but, he added, “the fact that we’re able to improve user outcomes at minimal impact to revenue” is “a good sign.”
On Tinder, however, testing showed that some new users are now prompted to take a video selfie, so that Tinder can use facial recognition to “confirm users are real and match their profile photos.” The new security feature is called Face Check, and Tinder has launched it in several states and countries. This feature also may not have prevented Stephen Matthews from returning to a dating app, as he never lied about who he was.
Reporters also checked their old accounts from February, which had the same name, birthday, and profile photos as the banned accounts, to see whether Match Group or its moderation systems eventually banned them. Every account that reporters checked was still in good standing.
Alexa believes that she wouldn’t have been harmed if Hinge had invested more in prioritizing women’s safety. “If these companies are making billions of dollars, they definitely have the resources to make them effective and safe,” she said.
She said she no longer uses dating apps.
“I will never date the same again,” Alexa said. “I’ve kind of even accepted that I would be totally fine being alone for the rest of my life if it means keeping myself safe from what happened to me.”
The Dating Apps Reporting Project produced this story in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network and The Markup, now a part of CalMatters, and copublished with The Guardian and The 19th.
This story was produced by The Markup and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
RELATED CONTENT: Aunt Allegedly Drowns 6-Year-Old Niece For ‘Looking More Beautiful’ Than Her At Wedding
Source: Black Enterprise
