Tinder Owner Buys Controversial Website Ask.Fm

The owner of dating app Tinder has bought controversial social network Ask.fm.

The site allows users to answer anonymous questions posed by others, but has been linked to teenage suicides as a result of trolls making abusive comments.

IAC - which is behind Tinder and search engine Ask.com - says it will invest millions of dollars into improving safety on the site.

Ask.fm's founders - brothers Mark and Ilja Terebin - will leave the company as a result of the deal.

It marks Ask.com and Tinder's first major push into social networking. The search engine was previously known as AskJeeves when it launched in 1995.

Ask.fm has 180 million regular monthly users and is popular with young people.

Some 40% of its users are younger than 18, according to Ask.com chief executive Doug Leeds.

It is popular in the US, Europe, Russia and Brazil.

Mr Leeds told The New York Times: "We're going to focus on turning around the philosophy of the company and putting trust and safety first."