Safer Internet Day 2026: Building Trust Through Fairness and Transparency

Every day, millions of people turn to digital platforms to connect, express themselves, and build relationships. As a dating app, our platform is one of the most personal places people show up online. That’s why at Hinge, safety isn’t just important to us - it’s fundamental.

On Safer Internet Day, we’re reflecting on what it truly means to create a trustworthy experience, and why fairness and transparency are at the core of everything we build.

Safety Sets the Standard for Positive Outcomes

Creating a safer environment isn’t just about responding if things go wrong. It’s about taking a proactive approach, designing with care, and continuously improving the ability to avoid an unwanted interaction or outcome before it happens.

This means:

• Designing features responsibly, with clear expectations that encourage respectful interactions
• Leveraging research and feedback from users’ personal experiences to inform our approach
• Investing in the newest tools and technology that support our teams and help identify risk early

As soon as next month, we will be testing Face Check™ in the US - a quick step when users set up their profile to show they're a real person. Enhanced verification processes, such as liveness checks, are just one way we’re evolving our safety features to protect daters and the integrity of the community.

Additionally, we’ve expanded anti-harassment features on Hinge with AI-powered functions like the auto filter option on Comment Filter, and the addition of Did This Bother You? We’ve learned from daters themselves that when safety is a visible part of the experience it helps them feel more comfortable on the platform, and more comfortable with each other. True authenticity is what brings people together, and we know it requires a foundation of trust to reach that point. 

Fairness and Transparency Empowers Users

Trust depends on how we create our systems and guidelines, as well as fairness in how we implement them. We strive to help keep daters informed by sharing our expectations and approach, helping provide clarity where it will support them the most. 

This looks like:

• Providing users with clear, straightforward explanations about how our app works to help them feel informed, not left guessing.
• Rolling out new Community Guidelines that provide specific guidance around user behavior, and why those boundaries support everyone.
• Combining technology with human oversight to support balanced and consistent decision-making - like ensuring that every appeal on Hinge is reviewed by a human moderator.

Last week, we expanded our newest approach to reviewing and moderating profile content globally - a change that means all users will now receive direction from us on exactly what happens if something on their profile goes against our Terms, and how to fix it. 

Our goal is to provide the transparency that helps resolve uncertainty and makes all daters feel confident that our systems are designed to support them. Safety shouldn’t be a distraction on the dating journey, it should be a source of reassurance as people focus on what matters - finding great, compatible matches.

Giving Daters More Control Over Their Experience

We listen closely to feedback when it comes to shaping the Hinge experience, and we’ve heard that people prefer a space where they can tailor their journey to reflect their personal preferences and lived experiences. While platforms hold the responsibility for building a robust safety framework, we believe users should also have dedicated tools that help them manage their own interactions and boundaries.

This includes:

• Intuitive and easy-to-use reporting options, including the new Past Matches feature which allows users to find and report profiles they’ve unmatched with over the past 30 days.
• Settings that allow users to control who can contact them.
• Education that helps users find the tools available to them and understand how they work. 

A Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Moments like Safer Internet Day give us an important benchmark to reflect on the challenges and progress of each year, but ensuring that daters feel seen, supported and respected on our platform is where the real mission comes to life. 

Our world is constantly changing, but our dedication is not. Serving our community requires ongoing attention and accountability, and we are excited to be on this journey each day with the daters that have put their trust in Hinge.