After alarming research, Australia asks dating apps to enhance safety for users

Canberra, Australia

Beware Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge: Australia's government has issued an ultimatum to the online dating industry, urging them to raise safety standards or face the prospect of legislative changes. This move follows eye-opening research by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), revealing that three in four users of dating apps or websites had encountered some form of sexual violence on these platforms between 2016 and 2021, media reports said.

The figures were released last year following an AIC survey of 9,987 app users.

Now, Australia's Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has set a deadline for major dating companies, including Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, to create a voluntary code of conduct by June 30 next year that effectively addresses user safety concerns.

In the digital age, these apps have offered potential matches but there is also a darker side to these platforms that has garnered attention over the years.

The envisioned code is aimed to encompass a wide array of safety-enhancing measures.

These include strengthening cooperation with law enforcement agencies, extending support to at-risk users, refining safety policies and practices, and enhancing transparency regarding potential harms.

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“Online dating is actually the most popular way for Australians to meet new people and to form new relationships,” Rowland said.

While encouraging these platforms to proactively implement the code, Rowland has issued a stern warning that if safety standards remain insufficient, the government will not hesitate to wield legislation to compel change.

“The government is concerned about rates of sexual harassment, abusive and threatening language, unsolicited sexual images and violence facilitated by these platforms,” she said adding, “What we want to do in this sector is not stifle innovation, but balance the harms." 

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The Australian Information Industry Association, representing the broader information and communications technology sector, praised the government's approach as "thoughtful."

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“That’s the way the government should regulate technology,” the association’s chief executive, Simon Bush, said adding, “Point out where there’s an issue, get the industry together and get the industry to look to see if they can resolve these issues first before pulling the regulatory trigger.”

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Dating app giants such as Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge have not yet commented in response to these developments.

Kath Albury, an online dating researcher at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology, reportedly told Australian Broadcasting Corp, “One of the things that dating app users are concerned about is the sense that complaints go into the void or there’s a response that feels automated or not personal responsive in a time when they’re feeling quite unsafe or distressed." 

(With inputs from agencies)