Formerly the head of trust and safety at Twitter, Yoel Roth announced his new position today as Vice President of Trust and Safety at Match Group, the parent company of popular dating apps like Tinder and Hinge. Roth shared his excitement about the move on LinkedIn, stating, “As they say… some personal news! I swiped right on Match Group.”
15 years ago, I started studying what we now call ‘trust and safety’ because the then-new world of dating apps felt like the Wild West; it’s truly a dream come true to get to roll up my sleeves and work to protect the millions of people making connections on our apps worldwide.
After seven and a half years at Twitter, now known as X, Roth left the company just two weeks into Elon Musk’s leadership. He had faced dangerous and homophobic harassment following baseless accusations made by Musk in an attempt to damage his reputation. This harassment only escalated after the release of internal documents known as the “Twitter Files,” which revealed how Roth and other executives handled content moderation. As threats continued to rise, Roth was forced to flee his home.
Now, with his expertise in trust and safety, Roth is joining Match Group’s family of dating apps, including Tinder, Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and OurTime. While these apps have built-in features to ensure user safety, there is still a prevalence of toxic behavior and a lack of trust from the public. According to a study by Pew Research, Americans are split on whether online dating is a safe way to meet new people, with the number of adults who believe in its safety decreasing from 53% in 2019 to 48% currently.
Roth holds a Ph.D. and wrote his dissertation on safety and privacy within dating apps. In an interview with Wired, he expressed his excitement for his “dream job” at Match Group after being approached by the company. His role will involve developing policies and standards for all of Match Group’s apps.
Last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that romance scams cost victims $1.3 billion and had a median reported loss of $4,400. Roth has made it his mission to address this issue and plans to introduce new protective features for scams and financial fraud. While Match Group already claims to remove 44 spam accounts every minute, Roth wants to further safeguard users by gaining a better understanding of the issue and implementing cross-platform solutions.
Additionally, Roth believes that app stores should also play a role in protecting users from underage users, a stance shared by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. With his new role at Match Group, Roth is determined to make online dating a safer and more reliable experience for all users.
