Tinder is banning teenagers from using its dating app

Popular dating app Tinder has swiped left on teenagers after announcing that the service will no longer be available for those under 18 years of age.

The app had faced criticism from parents as many teenagers posed on the adult section of the service, despite there being a specific section only for those between 13 and 17.

In a statement released on Thursday, they said:

“On a platform that has facilitated over 11 billion connections, we have the responsibility of constantly assessing our different user experiences. Consistent with this responsibility, we have decided to discontinue service for under 18 users. We believe this is the best policy moving forward. This change will take effect next week.”

Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen has previously said that there is no problem with teenagers using the service, which he described to the Guardian was intended more as a "social discovery" platform than a dating website.

“There’s nothing wrong with 13 and 17-year-olds making friends and connecting with new people on Tinder,” he admitted to the Times of London in 2014.

Tinder, owned by Match Group, verifies ages by getting users to link their Facebook accounts to the app. Even though the age limit to register on Facebook is 13, there are no serious measures to keep kids off—you can report an underage user, but not much more than that.

Kids have often cheated the system and plonked themselves in the adult pool by changing their age on Facebook.