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Hitting the Books: Social media's long, pointless war against sex on the internet
In the excerpt below from her most excellent new book, How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex, Samantha Cole discusses the how and why to Facebook, Instagram and Google's slow strangling of online sexual speech over the past 15 years.
Hinge is adding video identity verification to combat scam accounts and catfishing
Selfie Verification will prompt users to upload a video of themselves to confirm they look like the person pictured in their profile.
![Photo of an advertisement from Bumble that states "No more [eggplant emoji] pics."](https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/0rYrzgwkbVVhpRZ55oOaFA--~B/Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQ2ODtweW9mZj0wO3c9ODMyO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2022-10/76136940-53d0-11ed-bfff-460d3959f00f.cf.jpg)
Bumble open-sourced its AI tool for catching unwanted nudes
In a recent blog post, Bumble announced it was open-sourcing Private Detector, making the framework available on Github.
Tinder scales back its plans for dating in the metaverse
Tinder is dialing back its metaverse dating plans, and rethinking in-app coins at the same time.
Grindr location data was reportedly for sale for at least three years (updated)
Grindr location data was on the market for at least three years, potentially exposing users to serious privacy violations.
Tinder brings back Festival Mode now that in-person events are a thing again
Tinder has revived its Festival Mode to help you hook up at in-person music events.
Grindr restricts location features at the Beijing Olympic Village
Grindr has limited outside access to the Winter Olympics Village to protect the privacy and safety of athletes.
Dating app Grindr disappears from Apple's App Store in China (updated)
Grindr has abruptly left Apple's App Store in China, raising fears about a renewed government crackdown on 'illegal' content.
Tinder thinks you should bring a stranger as a date to your next wedding
What could possibly go wrong?
Lyft now lets you pay for your Tinder date's ride
Lyft now lets you send a ride to your Tinder date — just in time to revive in-person romance.
OnlyFans has 'suspended' its ban on sexually explicit content
OnlyFans said it has 'suspended' an upcoming ban on sexually explicit material after receiving certain guarantees.
OnlyFans’ policy switch is the latest victory in Big Banking’s war on sex
But it's a story we've seen play out several times before.
Bumble won't let you share bikini and bra photos if you took them indoors
Bumble is raising questions over a policy that bans bikini and bra photos taken indoors — but not outdoors.
Hackers could have locked users inside a smart chastity device
A security vulnerability in a chastity sex toy could have let attackers lock you in permanently, on top of sharing messages and location data.
The Arcwave Ion is designed to 'give men a female orgasm'
The company promises a 'female' orgasm with its new toy,
Match.com’s Date Check-In sends an SOS to friends in case of creeps
Going on a date with someone you met online can be scary -- not just because of the pressure to be charming, but also because of the horror stories of creepers and criminals that use dating apps to target their victims. Match.com's latest security feature -- Date Check-In -- allows you to designate three emergency contacts who will receive your date's name, as well as the time and location of the date itself. During the date, Match.com will send you an automated text message. If you respond "yes" to the text, your contacts will get an alert.
Pass Tinder’s catfish test and you’ll get verified
In an attempt to deter catfishing, or that awkward moment when you show up for a date and the other person looks nothing like their photos, Tinder is introducing a new Photo Verification feature. The tool will compare a series of real-time posed selfies to existing profile photos. If the photos match and pass a human-assisted AI review, the user will get a blue checkmark on their profile.
Tinder is working on a panic button for dangerous situations
Tinder is taking more steps to beef up user safety, rolling out features that give daters the option to receive check-ins, hit a panic alarm and even call authorities to their location. Its parent company, Match, has taken a stake in a location tracking and personal safety app called Noonlight, Wall Street Journal reports, and plans to test the features in the US from the end of January.
Your online activity is now effectively a social ‘credit score’
Kaylen Ward's Twitter fundraiser for the Australian bushfire relief has ended. The Los Angeles-based model said she raised $1 million (by comparison Jeff Bezos donated $690,000). At the start of Ms. Ward's successful donation drive she had three Instagram accounts — none of which were part of the campaign.
Study finds Grindr, OKCupid and Tinder sharing sensitive data (updated)
Some of the most popular dating apps have been accused of playing fast and loose with particularly sensitive data. The Norwegian Consumer Council has published a report accusing Grindr, OKCupid and Tinder of spreading various degrees of information about GPS location, sexuality and other personal information in irresponsible ways. While Grindr has vowed not to share HIV statuses and some sexual gropu identification with ad partners, it transmits user tracking info and the app's name to over a dozen companies, effectively identifying users as LGBT. OKCupid even sent data on drug use, ethnicity and political views to the analytics firm Braze.
