Match Group, owner of the dating app Tinder, has announced plans to leave Russia more than a year after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing the company’s annual impact report.
“We are committed to protecting human rights,” Match said, explaining the move, adding: “Our brands are taking steps to restrict access to their services in Russia and will complete their withdrawal from the Russian market by June 30, 2023.”
A number of digital services providers, including Spotify and Netflix, quit Russia last year.
Tinder saw 1.16 million visits per month in Russia during the first months of this year, half the number that its local rival Mamba registered in the same period, according to data tracked by Mediascope, as quoted by business news portal Inc. Russia.
The outflow of Russian users occurred in spring 2022 after the company’s decision to cut them off from Tinder’s fee-based services.
Match, whose brands include dating apps Tinder, Hinge and PlentyOfFish, has made few public statements about Russia, but flagged negative impacts on its European business in March 2022.
In July 2022, a Moscow court fined Tinder along with several social media platforms, such as Snapchat and WhatsApp, for refusing to localize the data of Russian users in the country.
Hundreds of international businesses, from clothing brands and carmakers to food producers and energy companies, have decided to withdraw from Russia due to pressure over Ukraine-related Western sanctions. Dating services Badoo and Bumble stopped working in the country in April 2022, and blocked downloads of their mobile applications along with payment for additional services.
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