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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
NOTE 14—COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Commitments
The Company has funding commitments in the form of purchase obligations and surety bonds. The purchase obligations are $103.2 million for 2024, $85.0 million for 2025, and $14.2 million for 2026, for a total of $202.4 million in purchase obligations. The purchase obligations primarily relate to web hosting service commitments. Letters of credit and surety bonds totaling $0.5 million are currently outstanding as of December 31, 2023.
Contingencies
In the ordinary course of business, the Company is a party to various lawsuits. The Company establishes reserves for specific legal matters when it determines that the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome is probable and the loss is reasonably estimable. Management has also identified certain other legal matters where we believe an unfavorable outcome is not probable and, therefore, no reserve is established. Although management currently believes that resolving claims against us, including claims where an unfavorable outcome is reasonably possible, will not have a material impact on the liquidity, results of operations, or financial condition of the Company, these matters are subject to inherent uncertainties and management’s view of these matters may change in the future. The Company also evaluates other contingent matters, including income and non-income tax contingencies, to assess the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome and estimated extent of potential loss. It is possible that an unfavorable outcome of one or more of these lawsuits or other contingencies could have a
material impact on the liquidity, results of operations, or financial condition of the Company. See “Note 3—Income Taxes” for additional information related to income tax contingencies.
Pursuant to the Transaction Agreement entered into in connection with the Separation, we have agreed to indemnify IAC for matters relating to any business of Former Match Group, including indemnifying IAC for costs related to the matters described below.
The official names of legal proceedings in the descriptions below (shown in italics) reflect the original names of the parties when the proceedings were filed as opposed to the current names of the parties following the separation of Match Group and IAC.
FTC Lawsuit Against Former Match Group
On September 25, 2019, the United States Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Texas against Former Match Group. See FTC v. Match Group, Inc., No. 3:19:cv-02281-K (Northern District of Texas). The complaint alleges that, prior to mid-2018, for marketing purposes Match.com notified non-paying users that other users were attempting to communicate with them, even though Match.com had identified those subscriber accounts as potentially fraudulent, thereby inducing non-paying users to subscribe and exposing them to the risk of fraud should they subscribe. The complaint also challenges the adequacy of Match.com’s disclosure of the terms of its six-month guarantee, the efficacy of its cancellation process, and its handling of chargeback disputes. The complaint seeks among other things permanent injunctive relief, civil penalties, restitution, disgorgement, and costs of suit. On March 24, 2022, the court granted our motion to dismiss with prejudice on Claims I and II of the complaint relating to communication notifications and granted our motion to dismiss with respect to all requests for monetary damages on Claims III and IV relating to the guarantee offer and chargeback policy. On July 19, 2022, the FTC filed an amended complaint adding Match Group, LLC as a defendant. On September 11, 2023, both parties filed motions for summary judgment. Our consolidated financial statements do not reflect any provision for a loss with respect to this matter, as we do not believe there is a probable likelihood of an unfavorable outcome. Further, we do not believe that there is a reasonable possibility of an exposure to loss that would be material to our business. We believe we have strong defenses to the FTC’s claims regarding Match.com’s practices, policies, and procedures and will continue to defend vigorously against them.
Irish Data Protection Commission Inquiry Regarding Tinder’s Practices
On February 3, 2020, we received a letter from the Irish Data Protection Commission (the “DPC”) notifying us that the DPC had commenced an inquiry examining Tinder’s compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), focusing on Tinder’s processes for handling access and deletion requests and Tinder’s user data retention policies. On January 8, 2024, the DPC provided us with a preliminary draft decision alleging that certain of Tinder’s access and retention policies, largely relating to protecting the safety and privacy of Tinder’s users, violate GDPR requirements. Our response to the preliminary draft decision is due by March 15, 2024. Our consolidated financial statements do not reflect any provision for a loss with respect to this matter, as we do not believe there is a probable likelihood of an unfavorable outcome. However, based on the preliminary draft decision and giving due consideration to the uncertainties inherent in this process, there is at least a reasonable possibility of an exposure to loss, which could be anywhere between a nominal amount and $60 million, which we do not believe would be material to our business. We believe we have strong defenses to these claims and will defend vigorously against them.