Australia adopts code of conduct for dating apps to keep Tinder, Bumble, Grindr users safer
The code follows research revealing that three-quarters of Australian dating app users have experienced some form of sexual violence
A code of conduct will be enforced on the online dating industry to better protect Australian users after research found that three-in-four people suffer some form of sexual violence through the platforms, Australia’s government said on Tuesday.
Bumble, Grindr and Match Group Inc., a Texas-based company that owns platforms including Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish, have agreed to the code that took effect on Tuesday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said.
The platforms, which account for 75 per cent of the industry in Australia, have until April 1 to implement the changes before they are strictly enforced, Rowland said.
The code requires the platforms’ systems to detect potential incidents of online-enabled harm and demands that the accounts of some offenders are terminated.
Complaint and reporting mechanisms are to be made prominent and transparent. A new rating system will show users how well platforms are meeting their obligations under the code.
The government called for a code of conduct last year after the Australian Institute of Criminology research found that three-in-four users of dating apps or websites had experienced some form of sexual violence through these platforms in the five years through 2021.
“There needs to be a complaint-handling process. This is a pretty basic feature that Australians would have expected in the first place,” Rowland told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday.
