Major tech companies have made the decision to eliminate the Iranian matchmaking application “Adam and Eve” after revealing that minors, including girls as young as 12, could register on the platform. This finding came to light through an investigation conducted by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), as well as announcements from Google and Meta.
Concerns Over Child Registration
Despite the app’s claims of only catering to individuals aged 18 and over, HRANA’s report titled “Child Marriage in the Digital Age” uncovered that the registration loophole allowed children as young as 12 to create profiles. Users could search for potential spouses using filters that included minors, with options for girls aged 13 and older. Such practices raise serious concerns regarding the exploitation of vulnerable individuals.
Instances of Underage Marriage
The app has publicly acknowledged marriages involving minors, such as a case featuring a 16-year-old bride and a 23-year-old groom who met through the platform. Reports from The Jerusalem Post also noted profiles showcasing girls as young as 15, with one profile revealing a girl in eighth grade, likely aged between 13 and 14. This alarming trend emphasizes the platforms’ role in facilitating child marriages.
Prior Warnings Ignored
Iranian digital rights organization Filterbaan had previously alerted authorities about “Adam and Eve” as far back as July 2022, warning that it was promoting child marriage alongside various Telegram channels. Their investigation revealed that nearly 17% of profiles on “Adam and Eve” were tied to individuals under 18, indicating a significant issue that went unaddressed until now.
Direct Orders for Minors’ Profiles
A whistleblower associated with the app revealed that in July 2023, the app’s leadership explicitly instructed the inclusion of minors’ profiles as part of the platform’s intent to promote an “Islamic marriage and lifestyle.” The youngest reported marriage through the app was of an 11-year-old, stressing the seriousness of the situation.
Legal Context in Iran
Under Article 1041 of Iran’s Civil Code, the minimum marriage age is set at 13 for girls and 15 for boys. However, marriages can occur below these ages with parental consent, raising questions about the protection of minors. Meta’s spokesperson asserted their commitment to combating child exploitation on their platforms and confirmed the identification and removal of links related to underage marriage services.
Actions Taken by Tech Giants
This week, both Google and Meta officially stated their decision to remove “Adam and Eve” from their platforms due to policy violations. Google emphasized that the app was taken down from Google Play on October 9, 2023. Meanwhile, despite significant global efforts aimed at combating child marriage, the practice persists, with reports indicating that approximately one in five young women marry before the age of 18. In Iran alone, around 25,900 marriages involving girls under 15 were recorded in 2022.
A Growing Concern
The alarming rise of matchmaking services licensed by the Iranian government is compounding the problem. What started with a single licensed matchmaking platform in 2020 has exploded to over 200 by early 2025. Previous attempts to raise the minimum marriage age in Iran have stalled, particularly following a shift in governmental priorities after President Ebrahim Raisi’s appointment in 2021, which has contributed to the normalization of child marriage.