Contributed by: kellyseal on Wednesday, April 20 2022 @ 09:15 am
Last modified on Wednesday, April 20 2022 @ 09:25 am
A new Connecticut bill aiming to improve safety on dating apps just advanced from the judiciary committee to the Senate for a vote. If passed, it could set a precedent for the rest of the country.
The legislation would force online dating sites to verify the identity of users and provide that information if presented with a warrant, subpoena or court order, according to CT Insider. It would also establish new education and training programs to combat online abuse and designates “grooming” (befriending minors to abuse them) as a separate crime. The judiciary committee passed the bill at the end of March.
While there is large support for the bill from legislators and violence prevention advocates, there is some hesitation among lawmakers, including Republican state senator Craig Fishbein. He questioned how dating services would be able to verify someone’s identity or stop them from transferring an account to someone else.
“There are some troubling aspects,” Fishbein said, according to CT Insider[*1] . “I intend to vote against this bill and show some of the problems with this bill. I agree with some of the policy but I have a lot of problems.”
Michele Voight, co-founder of the Violent Crime Survivors, expressed her support for the bill, especially as the online dating industry grows. She noted that there were 44.2 million users of online dating sites and apps in 2020, and that as more people joined, scams and abuse would continue to rise.
“The Statista Digital Market Outlook estimates the number of users in this segment will increase to 53.3 million by 2025,” Voigt told CT Insider. “The FBI reports in 2021 victims of romance fraud lost over $1 billion. Similarly, romance scams reported to the Federal Trade Commission rose 80 percent in 2021, with victims losing $547 million.”
Dating apps are already responding to calls for more safety. In recent years, Match Group hired an executive in charge of safety on its apps, and has launched a number of features in partnership with safety advocacy and domestic violence organizations, including background checks, better reporting features, and an in-app Safety Center where people can find resources for help if they have been victims of abuse.
But dating app scams and abuse have continued to increase along with the number of users despite all the new protections. Legislation is another tool to help protect potential victims of online violence.
“Collectively, the proposals in this bill seek to help victims, both by extending assistance in their time of need and by preventing injustice before it,” said Senate President and Democrat Martin Looney during testimony about the bill, according to CT Insider.