HRANA – Following the publication of HRA’s investigative report on the “Adam and Eve” application, which presented evidence that girls as young as 13 were being listed as prospective spouses, Google and Meta moved swiftly to remove the app and related promotional accounts from their platforms.
Read the full statement below:
Human Rights Activists (in Iran) (HRA) welcomes the swift action taken by Meta and Google following its investigation into “Adam and Eve,” an Iranian matchmaking platform that lists girls as young as 13 as prospective spouses. Both companies confirmed that they removed the application from their respective platforms after HRANA brought the findings to their attention.
A Meta spokesperson told HRANA:
“The exploitation of children is a horrific crime and we work aggressively to fight it on and off our platforms. We investigated the information provided by HRANA and identified external links to underage marriage services. We have removed these entities from Meta platforms.”
A Google spokesperson told HRANA:
“The app was removed from Google Play on October 9 for violating our policies.”
The responses follow the October 8 publication of HRA’s in-depth investigative report on child marriage in the digital age, released ahead of the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11. Alongside the report, HRA and 23 other civil society organizations sent a joint letter to Google and Meta demanding urgent action to remove the application and its promotional accounts.
HRA is proud that its investigation, together with coordinated civil society advocacy, has helped secure concrete action to limit the platform’s distribution and promotion. The companies’ swift responses demonstrate the value of documenting abuses and bringing specific evidence directly to those positioned to act.
HRA also emphasizes that removal is an important first step. The joint letter called for measures to prevent the service from returning through alternative accounts, protect children’s identifying information, and strengthen safeguards against services that list or market children as prospective spouses.
HRA urges all technology companies to build on these actions and take measures to prevent their platforms from facilitating violations of children’s rights, now and in the future.
