Pulitzer Center Update April 2, 2026
Pulitzer Center-Supported Project on Dating App Safety Wins Journalism Award
Country:
Match Group has known for years of abusive users on its dating apps, but it doesn't share this data.
A Pulitzer Center–supported investigation into dating app safety has been recognized with a top journalism award.
Dating App Cover-Up: How Tinder, Hinge, and Their Corporate Owner Keep Rape Under Wraps, a project from the Center’s AI Accountability Network, has won a 2025 Best in Business Award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW). The 18-month-long investigation—published in The Markup, The Guardian, and The 19th—exposed how popular dating apps concealed user-reported accusations of rape and assault.
Judges said the investigation “draws readers into the dark hole of dating apps’ safety practices, along with how the industry’s dominant player turned a blind eye to the predators roaming its products. With urgency and moral clarity, reporters Emily Elena Dugdale and Hanisha Harjani shine a light on how an investor-pressured Match Group concealed accusations of sexual violence on its dating platforms.”
Match Group is the dating app conglomerate that owns Tinder, Hinge, and other popular apps.
Winners will receive their awards at the 2026 SABEW Annual Conference in May in Philadelphia. See the full list of winners here.
