Plaintiffs must arbitrate Tinder, Hinge addictive app class action

Update: 

• A California federal judge granted a motion to compel arbitration of a class action lawsuit filed against the owner of Tinder, Hinge and The League over claims the dating apps are purposely designed to be addictive. 
• The judge also stayed the case against MatchGroup Inc., pending arbitration. 
• The decision came after MatchGroup argued the Tinder class action must be arbitrated due to arbitration agreements in the sites’ terms of service. 
• The class action claims MatchGroup purposely designed the dating apps to be addictive so users would keep paying for subscriptions to them. 
• The company argued the claims were “preposterous,” given countless users began relationships by using the dating apps before deleting them. 

Tinder, Hinge class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A group of dating app users filed a class action lawsuit against MatchGroup Inc., the creator of the dating apps Tinder, Hinge and The League. 
• Why: Dating app users argue MatchGroup purposely designed its dating apps so that their users would become addicted and continue paying for subscriptions.
• Where: The Hinge and Tinder class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

(Feb. 20, 2024)

A new Tinder and Hinge class action claims MatchGroup created its dating apps with a purposely addictive design in order to keep their users paying for subscriptions.

A group of consumers claim Tinder, Hinge and the more “exclusive” dating app The League are designed with addictive, gamelike features that lock their users in a “perpetual pay-to-play” loop that “prioritizes corporate profits over its marketing promises and customers’ relationship goals.” 

The consumers — all of whom paid for one or more of the aforementioned dating apps — argue MatchGroup fails to disclose that its dating apps are designed to cause their users to become addicted to paying for them. 

“The undisclosed defective design is intended to erode users’ ability to disengage from the Platforms and turn users into addicts who will purchase ever-more expensive subscriptions to unlock unlimited and other ‘special’ features’,” the dating app class action states. 

The dating app users want to represent a nationwide class of consumers who have purchased subscriptions with Tinder, Hinge and/or The League within the past four years, along with subclasses from California, New York, Georgia and Florida. 

Class action says Tinder, Hinge creator didn’t disclose apps were designed to be addictive

The dating app class action claims that, rather than disclosing that the design of Tinder, Hinge and The League are addictive, MatchGroup “affirmatively represents” to their users that the platforms are “effective tools for establishing off-app relationships.” 

At the same time, the company is “secretly doing everything in its power to capture and sustain paying subscribers and keep them on-app,” the dating app class action alleges. 

The class action lawsuit claims MatchGroup is guilty of unjust enrichment, negligence via failure to warn, negligence via design, breach of express warranty and of violating the law in California, Florida, New York and Georgia. 

The plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of treble and punitive damages for themselves and all class members. 

A separate MatchGroup class action lawsuit filed by app users in November 2022 claims the companies violated Illinois privacy law by allegedly illegally storing Tinder users’ facial scans. 

Have you paid for the dating apps Tinder, Hinge or The League? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Ryan J. Clarkson, Bahar Sodaify and Kelsey J. Elling of Clarkson Law Firm PC. 

The Tinder and Hinge class action lawsuit is Oksayan, et al. v. MatchGroup Inc., Case No. 3:24-cv-00888, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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