Tinder Is Accused of Discriminating Against the Olds
LatestHey, Fellow Kids, what’s groovy? I love swiping left and right on hip profiles of singles in my area. Wait—what’s this? People over thirty pay twice as much for Tinder Plus? That makes me want to sue in a very young person manner.
Forbes reports that someone has already done so on my behalf—California’s Allan Candelore, who filed his second lawsuit against the fuck app on Monday. His previous case was grounded and left open at trial. This new suit alleges that Tinder is violating the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act and Unfair Competition law by demanding people over 30 pay more for the same service, stating that it’s a clear example of ageism.
Candelore resents being asked to shell out $19.99 so he can undo swipe mistakes and…that’s about it. Welcome to Tinder Plus, where even the premium level is barely helpful! Meanwhile, people under 30 only pay $9.99 or $14.99 for the same privilege. I don’t know. How could Tinder be ageist when 24-year-olds are always messaging me that I’m a cougar?
In his previous case, the court ruled that Tinder’s decision was “reasonably based on market testing,” which indicated young people are broker than they are horny. They’re more likely to get on board with paying for the service if it costs less, unlike desperate people over 30 who have jobs. The new suit is more firmly contesting this data:
No matter what Tinder’s market research may have shown about the younger users’ relative income and willingness to pay for the service, as a group, as compared to the older cohort, some individuals will not fit the mold. Some older consumers will be “more budget constrained” and less willing to pay than some in the younger group. We conclude the discriminatory pricing model, as alleged, violates the Unruh Act and the UCL to the extent it employs an arbitrary, class-based, generalization about older users’ incomes as a basis for charging them more than younger users.
The policy does also kind of imply that people over 30 are more desperate to meet people, which is extremely rude. Most of us become more withdrawn with age.