Five Match Group brands stopped filing account bans

On 16 April 2026 the EU’s DSA Transparency Database stopped receiving account-level statements from Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, Meetic and Plenty of Fish, five Match Group brands. Their newest account termination or suspension in the database is dated that day, and none follows in the files we read. Fifteen months of such filings sit behind that date: for 2025, the database holds 59,187 account-level statements from Tinder against the 2,169,598 terminations Tinder’s own report counts, 2.7%. We do not know why they stop. AppealMyBan files the routes that do not depend on the database: the access request, the escalation desk and the EU dispute body. The tiers are on the pricing page.

AppealMyBan is an independent service. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the European Commission, Match Group or any app named below.

This page corrects a comparison in our earlier piece, dating-app bans in the EU’s DSA database, which set a full-year report against a 180-day search and produced a misleading ratio. The like-for-like figures are below, with how we counted them.

The number, with its denominator

For 2025, Tinder’s own transparency workbook, published on 28 February 2026 on Match Group’s safety resources page, records 2,169,598 account terminations. The Commission’s DSA Transparency Database holds 59,187 statements from Tinder dated in 2025 whose decision is “account terminated”. The first is the brand’s own count of terminations over 1 January to 31 December 2025. The second counts statements of reasons filed to the database, and Tinder’s first account-level one is dated 16 January 2025. Neither is a count of people, and the database is not a count of bans.

The database against each brand’s own 2025 report

The database column counts account-level statements dated in 2025. The report column is each brand’s own count of account terminations for 2025, read from its EU transparency workbook (Plenty of Fish’s is the corrected version re-issued on 11 June 2026, and Bumble’s is Annex I to its 2026 report). The share in brackets is the database count as a part of the report count. It is a gap between two kinds of count, not an estimate of how many bans were hidden. Meetic is left out of this table: the database lists it as Meetic SAS, and we have not confirmed that name covers the same services as its report, so we do not score it.

A gap is expected. Article 17(2) says the duty to send a statement “shall only apply where the relevant electronic contact details are known to the provider” and “shall not apply where the information is deceptive high-volume commercial content”. A bot farm caught at sign-up may get no statement. The database does not say which explanation covers which platform.

Where the five stop

The counts are from the Commission’s aggregated files, which we read on 30 September 2026 and which run to 31 May 2026. None of the five has an account-level statement between 17 April and 31 May. In our separate counts of the daily files to 28 September, four of the five carry on filing content-level statements, and none is an account decision: Tinder about 7,800 a day, Meetic about 1,800, Plenty of Fish about 100 and OkCupid about 75. Hinge’s daily files are empty from 17 April to 28 September. We have not read 1 June to about 30 July, so the stop is dated 16 April and confirmed for the days we read.

Who still files account decisions

These come from our counts of each platform’s newest 50 to 60 daily files, so each covers 57 to 59 days ending on 28 September. Bumble and Badoo are both Bumble Inc. apps. happn’s files hold no account decision at all, and Grindr is not in the database. Banned from Bumble for no reason breaks Bumble’s terminations down by ground.

What the Act says

Article 17(1) of the Digital Services Act says a hosting service “shall provide a clear and specific statement of reasons to any affected recipients of the service” for restrictions that include “(d) suspension or termination of the recipient of the service’s account”. Article 24(5) adds: “Providers of online platforms shall, without undue delay, submit to the Commission the decisions and the statements of reasons referred to in Article 17(1) for the inclusion in a publicly accessible machine-readable database managed by the Commission.”

So the Act sets two duties: to send the statement to the person, and to file a copy to the database. A stop in filings tells you about the second. It does not say whether the first is still being met, and we cannot tell from outside. The five brands’ own reports for 2025 still count the terminations, as the table shows. We do not know why the filings stop, and we found no explanation from any of them.

If your account ended after 16 April 2026

You will not find a matching entry in the public database, so reading the crowd you are in cannot help. The Act’s duty to send you a statement of reasons is separate from the duty to file a copy, and asking for yours in writing is still worth doing. Dating-app bans in the EU’s DSA database sets out what a statement must contain, and what it means if none came.

Ask for the enforcement record too, through an access request, which does not depend on the database. For Tinder, reading your Tinder data export shows what the download holds. Nobody can promise a result, including us.

How we counted

• Aggregated files. Seventeen aggregated files from the Commission’s database download area, fetched on 30 September 2026. The newest day in them is 31 May 2026. We checked them against our own count of Hinge’s 35 daily files and found no mismatches.
• Daily files. The newest 50 to 60 daily files for each dating app on the platform list, read on 30 September 2026. They run to 28 September 2026 and start between 30 July and 6 September, and Hinge’s hold 12 March to 16 April, after which they are empty.
• Account-level. A statement whose decision is “account terminated” or “account suspended”. Everything else is content-level.
• Reports. Each brand’s EU transparency workbook for 1 January to 31 December 2025, or for Bumble, Annex I to its 2026 report.
• Not covered. 1 June 2026 to about 30 July 2026, and anything after 28 September.

What we file when a ban has no public record

1. We read what the app told you. We find the date and whether it sent a statement of reasons.
2. We write the request for the statement, in your name, citing the duty to send it.
3. We file what a third party may file, in your name, under a signed authority, copying you the moment it goes: the access request for the enforcement record, the Match Group escalation desk, and an EU dispute body if you live in the EU.
4. We answer what comes back. The Case is $149: every route found, drafted and filed, and every reply answered for 60 days. The Advocate is $349 and covers up to four apps from the same company.

We are not a law firm and do not give legal advice. We never ask for a password. The free check takes about two minutes.

Questions people actually ask

Did Tinder and Hinge stop publishing account bans?

Their newest account-level statements in the EU’s DSA Transparency Database are dated 16 April 2026, and we found none after it. Their own transparency reports for 2025 still count the terminations.

Which Match Group brands stopped filing account bans on 16 April?

Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, Meetic and Plenty of Fish each have their newest account-level statement dated 16 April 2026.

Why did Tinder and Hinge stop filing account bans?

We do not know. The database does not say, and we found no explanation from either. A stop in filings does not tell you whether the statements are still sent to the people affected.

Do Bumble and Badoo still file account bans?

Yes. In our counts of daily files for 31 July to 28 September 2026, Badoo filed 22,848 account terminations and Bumble 2,859.

How many Tinder bans are in the EU database?

For 2025, 59,187 account-level statements from Tinder, against 2,169,598 terminations in its own report, 2.7%. The database is not a count of bans, and the two numbers count different things.

Does a missing database entry mean I was not banned?

No. The database holds anonymised statements the platform chose or was required to file. An account ended after 16 April 2026 on any of the five brands will not appear in it, and an earlier ban may be absent too.

Does the Act still require a statement of reasons?

Article 17(1) requires one for an account termination or suspension, where contact details are known and the content is not deceptive high-volume commercial content. Article 24(5) separately requires a copy to be filed to the database.

What can I do if I never got a statement of reasons?

Ask the app for it in writing, and ask for your data through an access request. An EU resident can also go to a certified out-of-court dispute body. Nobody can promise a result, including us.