Yubo Transitions to 18+ Platform, Advancing Its Next Chapter in Social Discovery for Gen Z Adults
PARIS, Nov. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Yubo, the pioneer in social discovery since 2015, today announced it is raising its minimum user age to 18, effective Nov. 1, 2025. The policy change reflects the natural evolution of Yubo's Gen Z community; for more than a year, users aged 18 and older have comprised the majority of the platform's global base. By officially becoming an 18+ app, Yubo is positioned to more effectively tailor product development to meet the specific needs of young adults.
This demographic shift aligns with users' perception. In a recent in-app survey, 92% of respondents voted in favor of Yubo being a space exclusively for young adults, rather than young adults and teens.
"Since our launch 10 years ago, Yubo's core demographic has grown up – from young teens to young adults — making it imperative that we, as a platform, 'grow up,' too," said Yubo CEO and co-founder Sacha Lazimi. "This move positions us to serve a single audience with clarity and purpose – meeting our users where they are today, not where they started, while positioning Yubo for continued growth."
This strategic shift is facilitated, and validated, by Yubo's industry-leading systems for age assurance. As the first major social platform to require age assurance for all users in 2022, Yubo set a new benchmark for online safety with a multi-layered approach.
Age assurance on Yubo starts at sign-up through facial age estimation technology and is reinforced with manual ID checks by Safety Specialists where needed, whether at the point of new-user registration due to escalation or later in the user journey, where automated detection tools designed to flag policy violations trigger additional age checks.
Product updates over the coming months will focus on user experience, enhancing personalization and social discovery options. Users will gain expanded profile customization tools, more control over group livestream interactions, and optional geolocation settings for those who want to prioritize local connections. The platform remains designed for authentic social interaction whether users choose to connect locally or across distances.
"Our core values around online safety innovation and user trust remain unchanged —the safety-by-design foundation that has enabled the Yubo journey since 2015 continues to shape our decisions today," said Margaux Liquard, Head of Trust & Safety at Yubo. "We are excited to keep growing alongside this loyal user base and look forward to the next 10 years together."
The transition to an 18+ community was gradual, beginning in early 2025. Users aged 13 to 15 years old, making up fewer than 5% of Yubo's total user base, were the first notified, with deactivations of accounts belonging to users 16-17 years old following on a country-by-country basis. Sunsetting was completed Oct. 29.
Owners of deactivated accounts were encouraged to return to Yubo after turning 18 and complying with the platform's age-verification requirement. Accounts inactive for more than two years will be permanently deleted in accordance with data-protection standards.
To learn more about Yubo's official transition to 18+ and what it means for Gen Z, visit the Yubo blog to read a letter from Yubo co-founder and CEO Sacha Lazimi.
ABOUT YUBO
Yubo is a social discovery platform that makes it easy to meet new friends and connect in real time. Founded in France in 2015, Yubo has grown alongside Gen Z, evolving from a teen-focused app at launch to an 18+ platform a decade later, serving users across more than 140 countries throughout its journey. Yubo pioneered platform-wide age verification and maintains a safety-by-design philosophy, integrating protection measures into every stage of product development in partnership with leading online safety organizations. Visit yubo.live to learn more.
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