Tens of millions of ladies within the US have downloaded a “relationship recommendation” app that claims it catches catfish, checks for hidden marriages and retains customers protected from males on-line.
In response to App Retailer tracker SensorTower.com, Tea Relationship Recommendation has turn into the preferred free app within the US, and is the primary way of life obtain.
It additionally claimed earlier this week to have not too long ago gained near one million new customers, and stated on Instagram it has greater than 4 million girls “in our group”.
Nonetheless, the women-only app has come beneath hearth for being “anti-men”, and for an information breach that noticed 13,000 consumer pictures leaked.
However what’s Tea? And why has it proved controversial?
What’s the app?
Tea Relationship Recommendation is a women-only app that permits customers to anonymously submit about males they’re relationship within the US.
The app’s web site says it was launched “to present girls the instruments they should date safely” – and gives AI-powered reverse picture looking to catch catfish utilizing pretend pictures on relationship profiles.
It additionally gives cellphone quantity looking to examine if males have “hidden marriages”, background checks to search for legal information, and a map of registered intercourse offenders.
Whereas these options aren’t distinctive to Tea – with most being publicly accessible – the app gives them in a single bundle.
Tea additionally touts that it has “the biggest girls’s group chat within the US, the place customers share experiences, nameless relationship critiques, and help”.
Sean Prepare dinner, a Bay Space tech government, based and self-funded the app in 2023 as a result of his mom was catfished and talked to males with legal information whereas relationship on-line.
Learn extra: ‘It’s not you, it’s dating’: Where is modern love going wrong?
Tea app
Who can use it?
Solely girls can use the app, which requires customers to register by making a username together with location, start date, a photograph and official identification.
Tea says it deletes all pictures after a overview, the place moderators approve or deny functions and confirm if new customers are girls.
All customers who get accepted are promised anonymity outdoors of the usernames they select, and taking screenshots of what is within the app can also be blocked.
As soon as permitted, customers can go away feedback describing particular males as a “purple flag” or “inexperienced flag”, and share different details about them.
Feedback on Tea’s Instagram present that functions aren’t that simple nonetheless, with quite a few individuals saying it takes days to be permitted.
Whereas males can’t use the app, Tea says any takedown requests must be emailed to their help desk with their identify, location, as a lot data as doable in regards to the content material in query, in addition to a photograph.
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What are the issues?
Tea has confronted a heavy backlash, with The Occasions calling it a “man-shaming” app, and a submit within the MensRights subreddit saying it “have to be deleted”.
Very similar to the Fb pages it resembles, the app has additionally been criticised for devolving into locations for gossip or for spreading doable misinformation about individuals.
Sky’s US associate community NBC Information reported that judges in Illinois and California dismissed two defamation lawsuits filed by males who have been posted in such Fb teams.
Writing for the tradition web site Dazed, Serena Smith stated it is “clear how an app like Tea might be abused”, noting doxxing – the place non-public details about somebody is shared on-line with malicious intent – and issues about males “who aren’t abusers” having their data revealed.
Talking to Fox 2, lawyer William Barnwell stated males might have civil authorized recourse if the posts have an effect on their work, household life, or fame as defamation would possibly apply.
A male-only model of the app – Cheeky – has additionally been launched, providing nameless chats about relationship. It says on it is official Instagram that it is “our response to the Tea App”.
Nonetheless, NBC Information reported the creator of Teaborn – a earlier men-only various that climbed to quantity three within the free apps chart – had condemned its customers for allegedly sharing revenge porn on that app.
What occurred with the Tea knowledge breach?
NBC Information reported that hundreds of accounts have been leaked after a hacker managed to breach the corporate’s database.
Tea has confirmed the leak to Sky Information, and stated it had recognized “unauthorised entry to considered one of their methods and instantly launched a full investigation to evaluate the scope and affect”.
In preliminary findings, the corporate stated the incident concerned a legacy knowledge storage system containing data from previous to February 2024.
It’s estimated that round 72,000 pictures – together with roughly 13,000 pictures of selfies or selfies that includes a photograph identification submitted throughout account verification and 59,000 pictures publicly viewable within the app from posts, feedback and direct messages – have been accessed.
“Defending Tea customers’ privateness and knowledge is their highest precedence,” it stated. “Tea is taking each vital step to make sure the safety of the platform and stop additional publicity.”
Posts on social media recommend the leak was first posted on 4chan and has been shared extensively since then. Sky Information has not independently verified any leaked data.
