I have sent direct messages in the past to setup a bake-off between members in the past a couple of times as people on here in the past a specially long running members form friendship's between each other that's how HIFI forums work .
But you have to respect the decision made and most properly made on risk to protect the company that runs the site .
But the decision was properly made on risk
Risk Assessment:
Conduct a thorough risk assessment of your forum to identify potential risks associated with user-generated content and private messages.
Funny times we live in now afraid its a shame